Legacy
by Greatcow
Summary: In his first year at Beacon Academy, Jaune Arc is struggling to deal with the demands of becoming a hunter, being a team leader and dealing with the monumental legacy of being an Arc. As his stresses mount, his demons begin to plague his dreams.
1. Chapter 1 - Late Nights and Dark Doubts

He was up late. Again. For what had to be at least the 10th night in a row Jaune was sitting alone at the team's communal work desk, frantically trying to deal with an ever increasing mound of schoolwork. His teammates helped him where they could but between Nora zipping around on a cycle of sugar highs and crashes, Pyrrha trying to help him along with combat practice and Ren just trying to keep them under some semblance of control Jaune was left to his own devices when it came to actually putting pen to paper and finish his assignments.

"Wait no, this had to be before the battle of Shady Glenn…that one involved pineapples…" he silently muttered as he made yet another revision in an attempt to get through the latest roadblock to a decent night's rest.

His fingers cramped. His wrist ached. His eyes were barely holding themselves open and passing out on his history textbook was seeming like a better idea with each passing moment. Scrawling out a conclusion he flipped his day planner back open. Numerous entries lined the page, those scratched out dauntingly dominated by those yet remaining before him. Sighing he crossed out yet another task temporarily wondering if his name had changed from Jaune Arc to Sisyphus, he hadn't made a note to that effect, but it was possible it had slipped past as he desperately tried to deal with something else.

He glanced over at the desk clock…2:30am… which marked this as yet another night of little to no sleep. And no sleep at night meant tomorrow, correction, today, he thought, today would be another day surviving on the questionable energy drinks he borrowed from Yang on team RWBY which, along with dumb stubbornness, was about all that was keeping him from collapsing in exhaustion. The noxious concoctions had a tendency to leave his eyes bloodshot and his piss a lovely neon green but he counted it worth it to stay awake and mostly functional.

He was exhausted, cranky and disgusted with himself at his constant scramble to just barely keep his head above water. He hardly saw Pyrrha outside of sparring sessions and while she claimed she understood his frustrations, it couldn't be doing anything to help their relationship.

"Relationship"…the word jumped out through his sleep-deprived haze. Were they in a relationship? He figured they were, but he wasn't sure. He knew he had made a major impression on her when he donned that dress and danced with her at the ball but since then... She had commented on his improved combat skills during their last sparring session but did that really count when they barely saw each other the rest of the time?

As much as he wished it were different the long days and nights of perpetual cramming left little time to actually pursue things further. Even tonight he had foregone an excursion to Vale with the rest of his teammates so he could rewrite this latest damn essay. Thinking back he couldn't even recall the last time he'd been off campus, and even on that vector he still hadn't even been able to try the new coffee shop that opened up on Beacon's campus three weeks ago, his life seemingly confined to class, library or cooped up here in this damn prison of a dormitory.

He wanted to scream in frustration at his current predicament but he forced the rage and despair back down. He was a team leader now. He couldn't even let himself show weakness; to break down would be to fail his team mates and beyond that... He was an Arc… the heir apparent of a long line of distinguished huntsmen and huntresses that had faced the worst that the wild lands had to offer…and here he was nearly melting down over 1st year school assignments. Despite the encouragement from Pyrrha, the rest of his team, team RWBY, and even Ozpin, Jaune still felt like a fraud and a failure. If he even spared the time to try to think about the future he was left with despair at how he was even going to graduate his first year, let alone actually get to graduation.

Looking from the clock to the list of his remaining assignments he sighed. At this rate he wouldn't be been surprised to get pulled aside into Ozpin's office and be told to pack his things home for the flight back home first thing tomorr-...no...this morning.

_Hell aren't you just a bucket of cheerful thoughts Jauney-boy…._

The words of the paper before him looked like a blurry mess to his tired eyes. He grunted. He needed some rest, just an hour or so to refresh and then back to work. Padding over to the shower, he quietly closed the door and brought up the water to a quiet rinse to blast clean the accumulated grime from the past day and night. Pulling up a fresh pair of boxers he slowly shuffled back to his bed. Passing through the dorm area he couldn't help but glance enviously at his team mates asleep in their beds. There was Nora splayed out across the entire mattress, the sheets and blankets shoved into a perfect mound in the corner and the pillows…somewhere… a nocturnal disappearing act he could never figure out. Ren, on the other hand, was lying perfectly straight on his back, hands folded on his stomach and blanket pulled perfectly up to his chest...even in sleep the man was perfectly organized. Last, and longest, his eyes lingered on Pyrrha.

Looking at her serene form prompted a fresh wave of sadness to wash over him. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to do more with her, wanted their "relationship" or whatever it was to continue…hopefully even to grow…but he didn't deserve it, didn't deserve her. Not like this, not now. Not when he could barely keep up with this homework, when he still hadn't won a sparring match in Goodwitch's combat classes. She deserved someone better than him. They all deserved something better, a better man, a better leader, a better everything than he could offer.

With that pleasant thought in his head he slumped onto his bed. One hand lashing out with a final burst of speed and frustration he set the scroll alarm for 5:00am and buried his head in his pillow. Sleep came quickly, but not well, fitful and restless, his unconscious mind full of doubts and nightmares.


	2. Chapter 2 - Nightmare

_Jaune's breath came in ragged gasps that hung in the cold air in miniature clouds. Home, he had to get home. He would be safe there. He could go to his room and hide under the bed and it would all go away. In his safe place the demons could not find him. He would find peace there. But where was it? He had walked for what felt like hours…tired…cold…where was it?_

_There. He was at the end of the path leading to his home. He had to get home. He could hide there. He walked towards the front door. So familiar, memories of simpler times. Shoes left on the front step, snowball fights in the front yard, sandwiches after school, before all this, before Beacon._

_He kept walking. The path passed by below his feet, but the house wasn't getting closer. He started to run. Still no closer. He broke into an all-out sprint, arms pumping, feet slipping and sliding over the cold slushy trail he knew so well. Still the house remained distant. The harder he tried to reach his front door, the faster it pulled away from him but he kept running, the cold air burning in his throat with each quick breath. He had to get away...they would find him, they would end him. Hitting a patch of black ice that escaped his sight until it was too late he tripped and slammed face first into the cold mud of the trail. Scrambling to his knees he looked up. The House was gone. The trail was gone. He was surrounded by endless nothingness. He knelt, breathing heavily, mud dripping off his face, and panic spreading over him like some sick poison._

_Where did he go now? What should he do? He didn't know what to do. He never knew what to do._

_A noise off to one side made him turn his head. Out of the darkness a massive figure was walking towards him. With each step of approach the man seemed to grow until he towered over Jaune like the Beacon Signal tower at the center of campus. Something about the man looked familiar but Jaune couldn't quite place it…like a long forgotten memory that remained frustratingly out of reach. The only feature that was easily visible was the man's eyes. Deep burning red orbs that bore in on Jaune like the Ursa he fought in Forever Fall. Jaune tried to look away but the eyes would not let him break contact, they had him transfixed, paralyzed from head to toe as they bored into the very depths of his soul. The figure stopped before him and stared, his eyes never straying from the shivering boy kneeling before him._

_Jaune held his breath, time standing still until the figure raised an accusing finger and spoke a single word:_

_"Failure."_

_The word was harsh, the voice behind it as dry and cold as the winter wind, lashing Jaune across the chest. Clutching hands to his sternum Jaune doubled over in agony. He…he couldn't breathe! He stretched his mouth open to suck in the precious air that he needed to live, but nothing happened. He tried to force his lungs to work, to do the job they normally performed without conscious throught. The word yet echo'd through his body, icy fingers closing within Jaune's chest. How do you remind your lungs that they have to inflate to keep you alive?_

_His vision began to blur. He was dying. He was going to suffocate and die here in this void and this thing would destroy him where he stood, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Falling to the ground and clawing at his throat he looked imploringly at the figure above him, begging it for mercy._

_"Help me!" Jaune mentally screamed._

_The figure cocked its head slightly to the side as if it were appraising fresh caught prey._

_"What makes you deserve my assistance? Look at you. Writhing in the mud, you can't even breathe properly. And you want to be a hunter… to inherit the Arc legacy. Those who cannot help themselves should just lie down and die there…" the voice reverberated through Jaune's soul, raking his brain with pain._

_Jaune's body started to spasm as he desperately tried to do something, anything to breathe. Gasping, his vision narrowed and then blacked out completely to the sound of the his own blood growing loud, then falling silent as his hearing dropped off as well. Clinging to consciousness by a fingernail one final proclamation entered Jaune's mind:_

_"You defile our legacy."_

Jaune sat bolt upright and let out a choked cry that came out more like a gurgle. Immediately he was hit with an urge to vomit. Reaching for the trashcan next to his nightstand he brought it to his face just in time to dry heave harder than he ever had in his life. It felt like his lungs, his stomach, the entirety of his chest cavity was going to come up but when it stopped and he looked down he saw nothing except some lime green bile. Those fucking energy drinks. First they made him piss green and now they made his puke look like acid as well. The stench of his vomit wafted up as he sat on the side of his bed sucking in air and trembling uncontrollably. His boxers and the rest of his bed were soaked in sweat…at least he hoped that was sweat.

He gagged again over the trashcan but this time he was unable to even manage bile, instead wracking his throat and hacking air. His heartbeat coming back down as he caught his breath he looked at the clock on his scroll. 4:30am. Two hours of sleep that he might as well have been used studying for all the rest he got dying inside his nightmares. He sat on the edge of his bed, holding back tears and trying to take deep calming breaths to slow his heart and his churning stomach down. _It was just a nightmare. You know how to breathe, you're safe here in your room._

He repeated the mantra several times before he finally stopped shaking. Looking up again showed that it was 4:40…there was no point to going back to sleep, and after a nightmare like that he didn't think he ever would willingly go back to sleep if he could help it. He looked around to his teammates, wondering if he had woken any of them up with his nocturnal hurling, but the sound of slow measured breathing indicated he hadn't disturbed them.

Sighing heavily, he stood up and quietly slipped over to the the shower to try and wash the memories of the nightmare away. _Cold water should do the trick..._ he thought as he entered the shower and turned on the water, not letting it warm up like he usually did. Tipping his head back he took a drink in an attempt to rinse out the taste of bile from his mouth. Turning in place the cold spray lashed his worn out body, driving lances into his brain and nearly causing him to cry out in shock. Clamping a hand over his mouth to muffle his surprised screech he tried to let the pain of the water drown out the even more devastating memories of his dream. He managed about 3 minutes before the cold water began to make him tremble again and he shut it off, resting his head against the cold tile wall.

"What the hell am I do doing here..." he mumbled as cold water dripped down his body. .

_You wanted to be a hunter, dumbass. You didn't think this would be easy did you?_

"Yeah, but I didn't think it would be impossible either..." he whispered.

This time no answer was forthcoming and, with a sigh he padded back into the room to dress himself. Quietly pulling on a clean hoody over his his armor and weapons he flipped over the dog eared pages of his planner and looked over the schedule for the day. _Hrm, nothing until 10am combat training with Goodwitch, that should give me a nice chunk of time to catch up on things._

He knew from prior experience that the library opened at 5am so he decided he might as well head there for a change of venue and quicker access to the research materials to finish off his homework. He packed his folio with all his work and papers then stopped. Pulling open the bottom drawer of his desk he looked at the box of energy drinks again. Two hours of sleep on another 12+ hour day...yeah he'd need some of these. Probably 2 or 3 of them. He scooped them into his bag then scrawled out a note.

_Team-_

_Sorry I left early. Went to library to catch up on work. I'll see you all in Goodwitch's class_

_-Jaune_

Double checking that he hadn't forgotten anything he tore the cover off of the small plastic bottle and gulped down the energy drink. Despite tasting like battery acid, the small bottles were pretty much the only thing keeping him going. 'Grimmjaw' was what it was called? He looked at the wrapper with its cartoonish rendition of a menacingly growling ursa. He winced at the memory of such a beast in the flesh as he swallowed the rest of the drink and chucked the empty bottle towards the trashcan. Hefting his bag he gently closed the door and shuffled down the corridor out of the dormitory.

As he walked across the deserted campus, the cool morning air and the first twinges of the energy drink began to bring a semblance of wakefulness to his muddled brain. He was beginning to really enjoy these quiet walks across campus with no one around. No one looking at him, no Cardin making fun of him, just peace and quiet. The cool pre-dawn breeze rustled the few remaining leaves on the trees that lined the path to the library, their vibrant colors a final hurrah in anticipation of the coming winter.

He paused for a brief moment to savor the fresh scent of the air. He knew he wouldn't be experiencing it for much longer, the library somehow maintaing a musty staleness at all times. Remembering all the work he had yet to do he continued on, soon reaching the library and gently pulling open the door leading to the main check in desk. The head librarian was already there poring over a report on her scroll, the sound of Jaune's entry causing her to look up with a smile.

"Well! I do believe this is probably the earliest I've ever had a student in the library. Good morning Jaune!" The woman was far too chipper for the early hour, Jaune having spent so much time here she knew him by sight.

"Good morning Professor Selene" Jaune mumbled with a stifled yawn as he forced himself to crack the first smile in what felt like a week. "How are you this morning?" He always enjoyed talking with her. She never seemed to get angry or irritated with his numerous questions always having an answer, or at least knowing what obscure scroll to find it in. Her easy mastery of Beacon's vast collection was a sharp contrast to his own habit of getting lost in the rows and rows of stacks. It also helped that she was incredibly pretty. Just a bit taller than him with long wavy brown hair, thin glasses and sharp almost falcon-like eyes that could zero in on a book on the highest shelf with but a glance.

"Please Jaune, call me Iris, you've certainly spent enough time here to ease off some of the formality. I'm fine by the way, thank you." She paused and looked at him "...what about you dear? You don't look well at all."

In the dim light of the deserted library, Jaune could see her slide her glasses back to examine him more closely. He was suddenly self-conscious of his haggard look, and pale, almost anemic, complexion. Her lips twitched downward in concern and he wondered what she was thinking. He suddenly remembered her mentioning an ill-fated winter expedition many years back, the look on her face made him wonder if he reminded her of one her fallen compatriots, ravaged by weather and Grimm.

"Jaune...dear do you need to go to the infirmary? You look bloody awful, have you been sleeping enough? Allergies, perhaps? Your eyes are completely bloodshot!"

_Crap, those grimm-damned drinks and their cursed side effects._ He raised a shaky hand. "Professor-I mean Iris! I'm fine, really!" He tried his best attempt at a confident grin. "Just had a really bad nightmare and couldn't sleep. I figured I'd attack my backlog before class see?"

He hefted his bulging schoolbag as if to prove his point, trying to ignore how much effort lifting it seemed to involve.

"Where was the history section again? It's still a bit early for me, heh..." His feeble attempt at humor faceplanted on the counter between them.

She looked at him with an unconvinced air but after a moment of consideration her duty as a library seemed to win out,she couldn't really deny him access to the library if he had a legitimate reason to be there and she had certainly seen students stumbled in looking ground down. Though she couldn't quite remember the last time she'd seen one quite as bad as he was looking.

"Section 436 to your left dear." She pointed in the appropriate direction. "And please let me know if you're feeling worse ok? I'll make sure to get you to the infirmary immediately if something goes wrong."

He nodded. "Thanks Iris, I appreciate it. Well...I'll just be heading over there then-" With a resounding crash, Jaune walked right into a low table used to organize file cards and bashed his shin against it. It stung like hell but at least the sharp pain served to forcibly wake him up further.

"Jaune! Are you ok?!" Iris asked, leaning over the counter to see what had happened.

"I'm fine! I'm fine! Just...kinda stumbled into the table, heheh I'm such a klutz! Heh..." He massaged the spot on his shin where it slammed into the table and limped off in the direction where Iris had directed him, her gaze boring into his retreating back before eventually turning back down to her work.

Wincing with each step taken on his bruised leg Jaune found Section 436 and laid his bag on the nearest table to the shelf. He needed a book on...what? Dammit he had completely forgotten what he even needed to work on! Grumbling to himself, he fished through his bookbag and took out his planner looking at his remaining assignments. It was an assignment for Professor Port wasn't it? He followed a line down the page and found the entry:

_Write a 3 page essay describing the nature of the earliest recorded Grimm attacks when Vale was first being established in AG (After Grimm) 1032 . Include the types of Grimm and the strategies used at that time, contrast them to the strategies of today._

Ok, that wasn't too bad_._ He felt he could easily accomplish that before Goodwitch's class. He went back to the bookshelves and started searching. After looking for a few minutes he found a rather large worn copy of _A History of Vale and Surrounding Territories: Volume 1._

_"_Seems to be as good a place to start as any" he whispered. Taking note of the location of volumes 2-10 he began walking back to his desk when the sight of another tome on the same shelf caught his eye and made him stop dead:

_Covenant of the Arc: A history of the Arc Bloodline_

He stared at the book for a moment and quickly grabbed it off the shelf. It was fairly new, he noted, guessing that they must have just recently added it to the library. The spine crackled sharply as he flipped the book open. Right there on the first page was a copy of the painting that hung in his Dad's study. It was a stunning rendering of his great-great grandfather, Charlemagne Arc, in full battle uniform, Crocea Mors pointing forward directing a charge against a horde of Grimm. Jaune looked from the picture then down at the very same sword attached to his belt. This was it...This was his bloodline, the progenitor of his line, this was who he came from.

The bedtime stories of the mighty Arc patriarch came back to him. How the Arcs had been among the earliest hunters to settle the Vale area, how they had fought in all of the biggest and most brutal battles against the Grimm of their. They were one of the few well known families who openly supported the rights of the native Faunus tribes and how they had lost quite a bit of face for that. It was all here...

Jaune blinked and shook his head. He'd check it out later. He had to write his essay and didn't have time to sidetrack himself with this rabbit hole despite his burning curiosity. Slumping down into the chair by his bag, he flipped open a fresh page on his scroll-pad and got to work.


	3. Chapter 3 - Library Rendezvous

Pyrrha awoke with a start. Jerking upright she looked around. Something was wrong. Her senses churned in the darkness before homing in on it, it was a _smell?_ The scent was oily and illusive, clogging her nostrils and yet unidentifiable. She got out of bed and looked around, searching for the source of it even as a pit of suspicion grew in her gut.

Her teammates were all here, except Jaune. His bed was a mess, the sheets splayed, damp and empty. Looking at her scroll told her it was almost 6am, well before any of their alarms were set to go off. They didn't have anything until 10am today so they had planned to take advantage of a few extra hours of rest. Jaune had mentioned he was going to stay up late and try to finish that essay for Oobleck but said he would sack out shortly.

She walked over to Jaune's area and looked around. The smell was definitely stronger here. She looked at his bed and saw the torn apart covers and smashed pillows. Obviously he had made it to bed, but it didn't look like things had been pleasant thereafter. She knew he was having trouble sleeping of late despite his feeble attempts to deny it. You couldn't very well hide a nightmare so severe that it caused you to talk in your sleep.

His nocturnal mutterings aside Jaune had never been good at concealing anything from anyone, least of all his team. That was part of what she liked about him, she doubted he could lie to her even if his life depended on it. Smiling to herself momentarily the brief mirth quickly evaporated as she continued her search of his area. She felt guilty snooping through his things without his knowledge but silenced the thought quickly. He was their leader and they..._she..._needed to know what was going on with him.

Jaune was becoming more strung out and withdrawn with each passing day, his rate of decline only accelerating in the time since the winter finals were announced a couple of weeks ago. That had been a particularly bad day for him; she recalled him being so distracted he hadn't managed to block her charges even once during their rooftop sparring sessions.

It didn't take her more than a minute of searching before she spotted his note. Reading the short missive she frowned.

_The library? Again?_

She sighed, outside of class Jaune seemed to be spending practically every waking moment in there lately. While she appreciated his new found work ethic, it was taking its toll, as well as leaving him pretty much absent from all of their out-of-class activities. More pointedly she was a bit irritated that nothing had seemed to come of that magical night they shared at the dance. The memory of Jaune in that dress still made her giggle uncontrollably. After that kind of courage she was expecting him to have approached her right then and there and...what?...ask her out? Was that what she wanted him to do? She wasn't sure herself, but she enjoyed his company immensely, her little goofball knight. A small smile crept onto her face as she continued to look around.

_And what is that smell?!_

It was certainly stronger here at his desk. It seemed to be coming from...she looked down and saw the trash can beside his bed.

"Ugh, goddess" she pinched her nose immediately after peering into the bin. It looked like some kind of green...vomit? _Had Jaune thrown up? But that only happened on airships...why was he throwing up now? Food poisoning?_ She looked around again and saw a small bottle with a colorful graphic on the floor near the bin. The lid was off and the bottle empty. _Grimmjaw? What was that?_

Gingerly picking up the bottle and reading the label gave her the answer. Ok, so Jaune was taking energy drinks, nothing really major. She knew numerous students at her previous academy that practically lived off of them during exam periods, though she had never come across this brand before. She looked closer at the label's description:

_WARNING! - DO NOT CONSUME MORE THAN ONE BOTTLE PER 24 HOUR PERIOD. EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF THIS PRODUCT HAS BEEN KNOWN TO CAUSE HEART PALPITATIONS, NIGHT TERRORS, HALLUCINATIONS, STOMACH CRAMPS, AURA INTERFERENCE, BLOODSHOT EYES-_

The warning continued on down the back of the bottle. The side effects took up more of the product description then the drink graphic itself. She looked down again at the bucket and the desk next to it. The bottom drawer was cracked and pulling it open she found a small crate full of the things.

_How many of these has Jaune been drinking?_ she wondered. Before she pursued the thought further, however, she needed to do something about this trashcan. It truly smelled foul and would only get worse as the day got on. She'd rinse it out in the shower, hopefully that would let the stench dissipate. She gingerly lifted the can only to gasp as she saw the bottom. The cheap plastic can had started to...warp...like the bottom had been exposed to flame and melted slightly.

She quickly ran the can over to the shower nozzle and flipped on the water to rinse out the green slime from the bottom of the can. She hoped it wouldn't damage the tiles or the plumbing as she washed it down the drain. She gave it a thorough spraying until she was certain the last green gunk was fully washed out. Shutting over off the water she shook the remainder of the liquid out of the clean, but still warped, trashcan. Setting it back down near Jaune's desk she gathered her shower things and fresh undergarments. Just cleaning out the can made her feel so dirty she decided to take her shower now rather than going back to bed.

As she showered she decided that she would talk to Jaune and try to talk some sense into him. He wasn't acting like a team leader and needed to be reminded of that. If that meant following him to the library at 6:30 in the morning then so be it. Though part of her concern was for the sake of the team of course, a larger, increasingly insistent portion, a part she had never known until she had first talked to him, stemmed from her personal feelings.

She definitely felt something for him beyond that of a fellow classmate or teammate. Friend? Well sure, when Jaune wasn't worrying about something he could be downright hilarious, always able to find a way to make her laugh and lighten her spirits...or at least he used to. He didn't do a lot of that nowadays. Frankly he didn't do anything except to sink under the pile of troubles stacked on top of himself and valiantly trying to shoulder the burden alone. No...it was beyond friendship, she only hoped that he felt the same way.

She quickly finished showering and dried off. Donning her armor she made sure Miló and Akoúo̱ were secured before heading for the door. With a final thought she doubled back to add a postscript to Jaune's note:

_Ren, Nora,_

_I'm going to make sure he's ok, I'll see you at Goodwitch's class_

_-Pyrrha_

As Pyrrha walked across Beacon's campus she marveled at how peaceful it looked devoid of students. She made a mental note to do at least some of her jogging exercises early in the morning instead of after dinner like she usually did. It really was too beautiful to miss. _Maybe I could get Jaune to come with me?_ She idly wondered.

Within a few minutes she had reached the library and walked inside.

The head librarian, Iris, was at the front desk, the bookish woman busy organizing a pile of musty old file cards and occasionally muttering darkly to herself. Pyrrha's arrival caused the librarian's head to snap up in a way that reminded Pyrrha of a hungry predator.

"Oh! Good morning Ms. Nikos! Are you here to do some catch up work too?" the woman stated.

"Oh, no not really. I was actually wondering if my team leader came by here? His name is Jaune and I-"

"Waaaaay ahead of you dear, " Iris cut Pyrrha off gently with a raised hand and a warm smile. "Yes he's already here, the only other person here besides me. Came here right at the crack of dawn looking like the walking dead saying he had to catch up on some work."

She shook her head. "Poor thing, he's been doing "catchup" (she emphasized the word with her fingers) for the past two weeks, I have half a mind to lay a cot out for him and save him the trip back to his dorm..."

"Oh...it's been that bad?" Pyrrha inquired delicately.

"You said he's your team leader right?" Iris asked directly, her tone shifting to one of concern.

Pyrrha was caught off guard at the abrupt shift in conversation. "Um, yes he's our leader. I had wondered where he'd been going the last couple of days. He...doesn't spend much time at the dorm anymore..." she trailed off, embarrassed to admit to the failings of her teammate.

"As I thought. You need to have a talk with him dear." Iris proclaimed with the air of experience. "The poor thing is running on less than a leg and I think there's something more than lack of sleep wrong with him physically that needs to be checked out. You all share a dorm right? How has he been sleeping? Has he been eating normally, or at all?"

"Badly. On both counts" Admitted Pyrrha. "He tries to laugh it off or hide behind bravado, but he's definitely having recurring nightmares. I..." She blushed before continuing, surprised at how easily the woman had her opening up. "I can sometimes hear him talking in his sleep. It...doesn't sound pleasant. And that's if he even gets to sleep at all. Lately he's been staying up later than anyone, well past midnight trying to catch up with all of his assignments. And, he's all but stopped eating during mealtimes. I don't know how he keeps himself going, but I can't imagine it's healthy for him!"

The words spilled out of Pyrrha in a torrent. All of her worries about Jaune for the past several weeks had been bottled up and now she had someone to vent them to. Iris was thankfully a very understanding listener and didn't interrupt this time, merely staring back at Pyrrha with those unnervingly sharp eyes.

Once Pyrrha had finished, Iris sighed and crossed her arms. "Look, I can't tell you how your team is supposed to run. But _that"_ she motioned off into the library, "is not what a team leader is. That is a young man who's burning the wick at both ends and will not last the semester. Why he's doing it I don't know, but at the very minimum you need to talk him into getting some rest. I've seen this sort of self-destruction happen to older and wiser folks than him and the outcome is never pretty. Do you think you can talk some sense into him?" she looked expectantly down at Pyrrha.

"I think so" Pyrrha responded uneasily. "Jaune can be stubborn sometimes...but I'll try". She smiled with a bit more confidence than she had before entering the library.

"That's what teammates are for dear." Iris pointed to Pyrrha's left. "Section 436, Ancient History. I heard him shuffling around a few minutes before you came in."

Deep in the library, Jaune was in trouble. It was already 7:00am and he had barely written the first page of his essay. Every time he tried to form a thought it pulled a "Nora" and flew out of his head. He kept flipping back and forth through _A History of Vale_ trying desperately to recover his original train of thought and put it to paper. Mounds of wadded up paper spilled off the desk, testament to a dozen attempts to start or restart his assignment.

Flipping back to the section about early battles of the initial settlement of Vale he found the section he was looking for.

_Initial battles against Grimm resulted in high casualties amongst the early defenders of Vale. Most early battles were chaotic, little more than a large group of able bodied settlers launching incursions into Grimm territory without regard for strategy or tactics, relying on brute force and numbers and the occasional crude early attempts at dust based weaponry..._

Ok, that was something, he thought, shifting back to his paper, reiterating the point made from the book. He'd reference this and compare it with modern hunter tactics he'd been learning about here at beacon. He looked back at the book again and continued reading the passage.

-_these tactics would eventually evolve through the brutal kill-or-be-killed life that characterized early settlements across the world. Strategies that did not work lead to settlements being overrun and wiped out. Survivors quickly learned to band together and form new methods on-the-fly to deal with the ever present Grimm threat._

_One of the earliest stand out fighters that emerged from this chaotic period was the Charlemagne Arc. The "4 Pillar" kill team and their corresponding hit-and-run tactics would be formally codified and perfected by him and his associates and by the spring of AG 1034, Charlemagne's forces had successfully pacified the area corresponding to the present capital city of Vale._

_Word of his success quickly spread, drawing scattered bands of settlers to congregate under his leadership. Within six months, he had accumulated an army estimated to have reached 10-12,000 strong. With their new found strength and Charlemagne's team leading the way, Vale's territory rapidly continued to expand-_

There it was again. _Holy Oum, his lineage was responsible for the 4 member hunter-team structure? Like literally invented it_? Jaune continued to read the passage further. It read like a laundry list of achievements for Charlemagne:

_-Improved dust based weaponry, innovating several new designs later refined by the future founders of the Schnee Dust Company_

_-Continued to expand Vale's Territory out to the eastern and western shores of the __continent._

_-Set up the guidelines for training new hunters and established the first Hunter Academies._

_-Spearheaded the first research on the origins of the Grimm_

It just kept going and going. Instead of filling Jaune with pride at his family's legacy, the summary of Charlemagne's accomplishments served only to darken his mood further. Another set of things he had to live up to. Without thinking he reached into his pack to retrieve another one of the little bottles of demonic piss and gulp it down. The burn was still there, still unpleasant as ever, but he needed to power through this essay before he got sidetracked again.

Face hovering over his note-pad, he furiously scribbled his thoughts across the page, smudging ink all over his hand in the process. So focused was he on the writing he didn't notice Pyrrha's approach until she coughed quietly from the other side of the table.

"Wha-!" He snapped up looking around for the noise and spotted Pyrrha standing there smiling down at him. She gave him a friendly little wave.

"Mind if I join you Jaune?" she asked. "I found your note and...well...I just wanted to see if you needed any help with anything."

As the words passed her lips Pyrrha knew she had said something wrong. Jaune deflated before her eyes, eventually smiling back in a sad, tired sort of way.

"Thanks Pyrrha, I'm ok for now though, I almost have this essay licked." He paused, a battle of self-reliance versus the need for companionship taking place behind his eyes before he continued. "I...I definitely wouldn't mind the company though!" He added, giving his best attempt at a warm smile.

Pyrrha returned the smile and sat down next to him. She gave him a brief hug, eliciting a contented sigh from the tired knight. Making herself comfortable, she looked over his work as Jaune continued to scratch out another page of his essay. She observed the piles of shredded paper, his open bookbag, several books and...

"You've got it licked huh?" she asked skeptically, one eyebrow cocked at the scant few paragraphs written thus far.

He groaned as his claim was punctured, but still managed a smile as he went back to his pad. Afraid of needling him further she continued to sit there quietly watching as Jaune filled the page. After a few minutes she glanced aside, noticing something on the table next to his notepad.

"Jaune did you just drink one of those Grimmjaws?" she asked.

The scratch of pen on page paused. "Uhhh...yeah, kinda running on just a few hours of sleep at the moment. They're the only thing keeping me standing." His voice was soft and he didn't look up from his essay.

"Jaune!" she said sharply, "That's really dangerous! Did you read the warnings on those things? You've already had two of them today, haven't you?"

Juane blushed and shifted nervously on his seat. No longer writing his pen was rapidly tapping a staccato tempo on his paper but couldn't seem to come up with an explanation or an excuse.

"Look Pyrrha it's ok, they put those warnings on those things all the time to cover their asses. I'm fine, really!" He raised his fist triumphantly in the air to prove his point only to quickly withdraw it as it began to twitch uncontrollably. "I just need something to pick me up and help me get through these assignments, then I'll be able to swear off of them for good, I promise!" He still couldn't bring himself to meet Pyrrha's gaze as he defended himself. It was a weak argument and he knew it.

"Jaune...look at me" She gently took his head in her hands, forcing him to face her. She refrained from wincing, Jaune really did look ghastly up close. Between the paler than usual skin, the sunken cheeks and the angry zit forming on his forehead, his whole appearance radiated burnout, the look of a man pushed beyond his limits. The worst was his eyes. Dark, puffy rings had formed under bleary watery eyes that had none of the spark she had seen in that ball room a month ago. His once blue irises were practically purple with how bloodshot they had become.

"You need to stop doing this. I know you're trying to do your best and catch up on your work but this is not the way to do it. You can't keep trying to study and train on 2 hours of sleep and nothing but these little bottles of poison!" She gripped him tighter, as if trying to make him feel her worry. "I know you have the strength to succeed here Jaune. You're an Arc and I know that you can do all of what is asked of you without killing yourself in the process!"

He sighed again and closed his eyes. "How Pyrrha?" he asked. "How am I going to succeed when I can't even finish the basic assignments? When I haven't won a single match in Goodwitch's class?"

"Jaune, you have a team. And a team helps one another. We can help you. _I_ can help you...please, you don't have bear your burdens alone like this."

Jaune was silent, his neck drooping, his head resing in Pyrrha's hands before he slowly reached up to peel her fingers his face and cup them in her lap. Tears started to leak from his closed eyes.

"I...thank you Pyrrha... but I have to do these assignments myself. A team leader has to be able to handle his responsibilities or the whole team suffers. Like you said..." He motioned towards the book about his family's history on the table. "...I'm an Arc...and...I've got a hell of a legacy to live up to. If I can't even complete my own assignments, what good am I?"

He squeezed her hands. _Gods it felt so good to be this close to her, why did she have to find him like this?_ "I promise I'll come through this somehow. I will. But right now I need to finish this essay or I'll have to deal with another one of Port's riveting tales about how he fought a Grimm Turkey or something..."

Pyrrha giggled a bit before wiping away a tear of her own. This wasn't going as she had planned, he was still trying to soldier forward alone despite her pleas. Well, if she couldn't force the issue now, the least she could do was keep an eye on him and try to keep him from drinking any more of those vile little bottles of Grimmjaw.

"Alright Jaune, fair enough. I'm still not giving up though. You understand that, right?" She smiled with determination and rested her hands on his shoulders. "We're going to get some sense of balance in your life whether you like it or not. Just because you're an Arc doesn't mean it has to define who you will become. For now, lets get this essay finished before Goodwitch's class. I'll just sit here and make sure you don't get distracted."

_Oh if only you knew_ thought Jaune as he returned her smile and turned back to his paper.


	4. Chapter 4 - Tainted Aura

The time Jaune spent in the library with Pyrrha that morning would prove to be the only highlight of the day for him. Goodwitch's class, in particular, was an unmitigated disaster. After arriving at the sparring arena, Goodwitch had announced that today they were focusing on Aura sustainment exercises in lieu of straight combat. They quickly shuffled into the arena in their full combat load outs as Goodwitch directed them to maintain an aura shield for as long as they possibly could.

"Students, you will find this next exercise one of your most demanding types of aura manipulation to perform. In the field you must be prepared to form these kinds of protective shields when facing against Grimm of larger than normal size or if you are under sustained assault by projectile dust weaponry. An inability to quickly conjure and effectively sustain such a shield would be a clear indication of your unsuitability for combat. You will need to focus as hard as you possibly can as this will be graded during our full-contact sparring test at the end of the month!" Her voice ringed crisply across the large combat arena as she paced before them.

Jaune groaned inwardly. _Great, another chance to embarrass myself in front of the whole class_. Looking around he saw Cardin snickering loudly and leering in Jaune's direction. The other man knew from sparring that Jaune always had trouble with his aura.

Professor Goodwitch continued. "I have been teaching you the theory of aura manipulation for several weeks now. Today it is time to put it to a test. Draw your weapons and assume your combat stance. Focus on a shield that envelopes your whole body and mind. This, if done correctly, should withstand most attacks for a short while and is critical to discovering and controlling your semblance. Hold it as long as you are able but understand I do not expect you to sustain it for more than a minute or so as this technique is extremely demanding and taxing on your stamina. However I will be expecting at least a visual presence of your aura from which to to gauge your progress."

She drew up fast, turning to face them. "Any questions?" There were none from the class.

"Very well! Make sure to spread out to provide enough space for each of you so your auras do not interfere with each other. On my mark! Set! Begin!"

Jaune closed his eyes and tried to calm his agitated mind. _Focus...focus...think of a shield_..._think of protection_. Reflexively he flexed his arm, felt the weight of his shield deploying and tried to visualize it covering his whole body. He kept trying to empty his mind but other thoughts kept intruding and breaking his concentration.

_That essay for Port was a disaster..._

_I hope Pyrrha didn't actually read what I wrote..._

_Focus on your shield you idiot!_

_Fuck, a sparring test on Friday? I hope she doesn't pair me with Cardin again..._

_Oh god what if I screw up again? Goodwitch nearly tore my head off the last time..._

_I can't screw up now, what if I'm facing Grimm for real, then what about my team?_

_What about Pyrrha?_

_Focus, come on, think of a shield, think of a shield think-_

_"_MISTER ARC!"

Goodwitch's voice cut through the air like the crack of her signature riding crop. Jaune was so severely jolted out of his mental turmoil he dropped Crocea Mors with a mortifyingly loud clatter. Scrambling to pick it back up, he stood and found himself face to face with the irate professor.

"Mister Arc..." she spoke, drawing each syllable out with barely concealed irritation "...have you been paying attention at all during my classes?"

Jaune could hear the distinctive cackle of Cardin behind her with several other students snickering along with him. Goodwitch's head snapped around, silencing the class with a single venomous look.

"Uh, yes...Ms. Goodwitch-I mean professor!" Jaune blurted out. He was slightly dizzy from the previous exertion and reddening with embarrassment.

"Then perhaps you can clarify for me why your aura could be dis-favorably compared to a guttering candle in a light breeze!? I have gone over aura manipulation techniques no less than six times in this class and I would hope that by this point in the semester you would have at least been able to demonstrate some progress..." she readjusted her glasses and continued to stare daggers at his face "...or is that too much to expect?

Jaunes face reddened even further. Several students now were visibly suppressing giggles and Cardin looked almost as red as Jaune from holding back laughter. At least his team and Team RWBY seemed to be showing some semblance of pity, though in some ways that was even worse...

"No professor you're not mistaken. I do apologize for that performance. I'm...not feeling my best today" he stammered through gritted teeth. "May I make another attempt?"

Goodwitch sighed. "Mr. Arc, as an aspiring hunter this far into his first year, a "bad day" is not a valid excuse for this level of performance. But very well! Please demonstrate for the class a sustained shield with your aura. I will settle for at least a forward facing shield that is visible to myself and the class. Begin when ready."

The rest of the class took the cue from Goodwitch and made space for Jaune, forming a wide semi-circle around him. Jaune gulped. He had to demonstrate this in front of the whole class...with everyone watching?

_Great! No pressure! I'll just look like an even bigger idiot and everyone will have a front-row seat!_. He took a few steadying breaths and once again tried to empty his mind. As he closed his eyes he found Pyrrha in the line of students. Their eyes met, and in that brief moment, he wanted to say something to her, something rash and passionate, something to help him focus on keeping his mounting terror from overwhelming him in front of his whole class. He just wished there weren't all these goddam people here to hear him say it.

_Pray for me Pyrrha._ He mentally called to her. Whether the message got to her or not, she seemed to understand his silent plea. She nodded slightly and clasped her hands together.

Taking another deep breath and closing his eyes Jaune assumed the Full-Guard position. He crouched low making sure his shield covered as much of his body as possible, his blade drawn back, ready to lance outwards at an approaching enemy. Bending his head down he gritted his teeth and began to focus only on his shield. He began to repeat a short mantra he had taught himself when doing shield practice to help him focus.

_The Shield Protects_

_The Shield Holds the Line_

_The Shield Deflects_

_Those Blows that were Mine_

He continued to repeat the sequence in his head, focusing on conjuring his aura. Despite his efforts, he immediately knew something was off, an assessment confirmed as he began to hear low mutters rumbling from his fellow classmates as his heart started to beat erratically in his chest.

He was standing still but his body felt like it was running all out through a pool of tar. Sweat started to trickle down his face and his legs began to tremble with the exertion. He shifted his feet slightly and continued to repeat the mantra in his mind trying to desperately hold on to it as the solitary rock in a roaring sea.

As Jaune strained Pyrrha and the rest of teams JNPR and RWBY looked on with varying degrees of worry. It was plain to see that Jaune was on the verge of passing out. His face was practically purple from concentration, his blonde hair drenched with sweat. Worse, his aura looked...

"His aura looks fucked up!" Yang whispered bluntly. "Seriously, I've seen enough of our dad practicing his aura techniques and they look nothing like...that" She waved over at Jaune. "Something's wrong with Vomit-Boy there, and I'm talking more so than usual."

"It definitely appears quite irregular" Ren stated simply. "His fatigue and lack of nourishment must be interfering somehow. But that would usually lead to a diminished aura state or difficulty producing a visible radiance...this looks more like it's been corrupted." He leaned forward, staring intently at his team captain, scientific interest, for the moment, outweighing concern.

"Ewwww he looks like he's covered in a green blob!" Nora declared with her usual lack of tact.

Despite the crude assessment, Pyrrha had to agree. Instead of the uniform glow that should have been surrounding Jaune's body, there appeared irregular pulses of green-tinged aura fragments flashing in some rapid rhythm. The longer Jaune crouched the more pronounced the anomalies appeared. After a few moments, it was even more as Nora described it, the green tendrils lasting longer and longer such that he appeared to be surrounded by some vile, pulsating tumor instead of the expected smooth round shield.

Even professor Goodwitch seemed confused by what she was seeing. Her head was cocked slightly to the side and her gaze narrowed at Jaune who was by now beginning to shake with his continued efforts at maintaining his aura. After about a minute though she had seen enough and walked over to him.

"Mr. Arc that will be sufficient. You may release your aura now." She spoke with her usual crisp commanding voice, but it appeared that Jaune had not heard her.

"Mr. Arc! I said that's enough!" She spoke louder this time and reached for his shoulder when Jaune exhaled explosively, collapsing to his hands and knees, Crocea Mors clattered loudly against the stone floor for a second time. His aura hung in the air for a split second behind him, as if it was unsure it was supposed to stop as well, then it's unstable structure collapsed inward like a popping soap bubble. Its collapse set off a pulse of air that blew by Goodwitch and the rest of the class with palpable force, the small explosion causing Goodwitch herself to actually take a step back in surprise.

Jaune was bent over sucking in great lungfuls of air. _Ohhhhh good ol' oxygen how I missed you buddy! We'll never be apart again!_ He was about to laugh at the absurdity of his thoughts but decided against it, he would probably pass out if he tried to do anything other than breathe.

Taking in another delicious gulp of air, he eventually called out to Goodwitch. "How was that professor? Did my shield pass muster?" With great struggle he pushed himself back up to a kneeling position and looked around for the first time since beginning the exercise. All around him the rest of the class and Goodwitch stared back in shocked silence.

"Wh-what? I-is something wrong?" he spoke between breaths. The rest of the class continued to stare, some with fascination, others with alarm. Jaune looked over to his friends for some kind of explanation but they only returned worried looks that Jaune couldn't make sense of.

Professor Goodwitch recovered first and began to rapidly type something into her large scroll. A chime emitted from the pad and her eyes snapped up to meet his own.

"Thank you, Mr. Arc. You are dismissed from the rest of this class. I am setting up an appointment with the school infirmary. You are to head there immediately."

Jaune was dumbstruck. He struggled to his feet and pleaded with Goodwitch "What? Why? Didn't I make a shield? I really felt I had it there!" He was panicking, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. He had never been kicked out of a class like this before and this was happening so suddenly, in front of the whole damn class to boot.

Goodwitch fixed him with a look. It might have been...pity? He couldn't really tell. "Mr Arc, I don't know what _that_ was, but that certainly did not resemble any shield of which I know. I quite frankly don't have any idea what you were trying to accomplish with your aura but it is obvious you are not in a fit state to continue class today. I recommend you head to the infirmary at once and submit to the full physical I have scheduled for you."

"But-" Jaune started to protest.

"That is final, Mr. Arc. Now please collect your things and get moving. And note, unless I hear otherwise from a nurse, you will not be allowed to participate in any further sparring matches. If you are unable to complete your assigned final exam at the end of this month we will have to look into...other arrangements to make up for the exercise. Good day, Mr. Arc."

With that, Goodwitch turned to face the rest of the class.

"Alright class, we are to continue aura the aura sustainment exercise as we originally planned. Please spread out and continue to practice as we discussed earlier."

It was all Jaune could do not to break down right there. Setting his face in as impassive a mask as he could make it, he grabbed his bag and hurried out of combat arena as quickly as his tired legs allowed. He thought he spotted Pyrrha attempting to get his attention out of the corner of his eye but he didn't dare to look back at her, he couldn't bear it. He knew he would break down right then and there if he stopped. Just as he made it to the door Cardin yelled after him.

"HEY JAUNEY-BOY! HOPE YOU DIDN'T SHIT YOUR PANTS! LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE TRYING TO PASS AN URSA OUT OF YOUR-!"

Goodwitch's icy voice cut across Cardin's before he could continue. " _Thank you_ for that enlightening commentary Mr. Winchester, since you seem to be so full of energy and wisdom perhaps you can explain to the class the proper methods of Aura manipulation-"

Jaune slammed the door behind him before he heard any more. Now alone he set about trying to put as much distance as he could between him and the sparring arena. He didn't care where he went at the moment but it wasn't going to be the hospital, his dorm, nor the library. A crazy thought flashed in his head. _I could just leave Beacon, couldn't I? Just leave this grimmdamned place behind and go home and just leave it all behind me and no one would notice or care_...

For a crazy second, the thought seemed quite appealing. He was practically hysterical with a whole powder keg of emotions and didn't know who to turn to for help. There he stood in the center of Beacon, tears leaking out of his eyes, his body shaking with fatigue and his clothes soaked with sweat, he looked like a hot mess and felt worse. He was attracting looks from other students walking around campus. It was still the middle of the school day and there were still tons of them milling about.

_Think...think...think... you have to do something you idiot! You can't just melt down right here in the middle of school!_

He couldn't seem to come up with a solution so he just started running as fast and as hard as he could. He didn't have any direction in mind but he had to get away. He had to find somewhere quiet where he could calm down and be alone with his thoughts.

He had only sprinted for a few minutes before his body reminded him of his earlier exertions and he staggered to a stop. Breathing heavily he looked around to find that he had run across to the large memorial gardens that sat on the eastern edge of campus. With few other students in view he figured this was as good a place as any to be alone and he made for the small grove of red-leaf trees that had been imported from Forever Fall, slumping against the trunk of one furthest back from the main path. He was well obscured here and was unlikely to be disturbed.

When he looked around and was confident he was truly alone he finally let his pent up anguish wash over him. His body went limp from the combined stresses that had been accumulating all day. He cried freely now, his silent sobs trying to exorcise all of the emotional bile his body had been holding on to. His mind was simply blank. He had been tired and depressed for so long he didn't know what else to think. He noted with bitter irony after his obvious failure in the aura exercise that this was perhaps the first time he could recall that he truly had cleared his mind.

_Only took embarrassing myself in front of the whole class and having an emotional meltdown in the school gardens...yay for me, bet that goes straight into the curriculum..._

Eventually he got the worst of the crying out of his system and he sat in a daze, eyes glazed over and staring at nothing in particular. It felt good not to think. This was the most relaxed he had been in weeks, it was bliss. As he sat there he started to feel the combined effects of the dust crash from his energy drinks, his overall lack of sleep and the exertions in Goodwitch's class. His eyes started to droop as he became more and more drowsy. Before he knew it, he had slumped sideways off the trunk of the tree, falling into another fitful slumber

It was not much longer before he demons came for him.

_The familiar inky void surrounded him again. Nothingness filled the void save for himself and his weapons. What was this? Did he need to fight something? He moved forward cautiously. Crocea Mors held at the ready and his shield in front of him. Nothing._

_Shapes began to congeal from out of the void. He was...was he back in the combat arena? He turned back and forth trying to prepare himself for something just out of his vision. He took a few steps forward when a loud slam shattered the silence, bringing with it bright cones of light blazing down from the ceiling._

_What was going on? I'm not here, this isn't supposed to be...I'm not supposed to be here...he tightened his grip on his sword and shield shifted nervously, trying to get his bearings. The exit, where was the exit?_

_"BOY!" the voice thundered through the arena. Jaune staggered and whipped around. The dark giant from his previous nightmare stood before him, its burning red eyes blazing through the darkness. He still couldn't make out the being's face or features...but he somehow felt, deep in his bones, that he knew what this thing was._

_The cloud of darkness receded to reveal that the shadowy figure was not alone this time. Stepping forward to stand aside the ruby-eyed giant a second figure appeared. Tall and slender it took the semblance of a svelte female form carrying a clipboard and an impossibly large writing tool. Peering over the clipboard it leered down at Jaune with narrowed emerald eyes._

_"Again you embarrass me." The voice boomed. "Again you stain our name and our legacy! An Arc incapable of producing a proper Aura! You don't even know what your semblance is yet, do you?" the giant roared with primal fury and jabbed a shadowy claw at Jaune. "Why are you still standing here!? Shouldn't you have died in the forest on your initiation day? That would have been a more proper result then what stands before me!"_

_The shorter shadow narrowed her poisonous eyes and spoke in a snake-like hiss. "Yesssss, sssubstandard performance, ssssubstandard grades. Cannot control his weaponssss or his aura. Ssshould be dead by now according to the data..." With each word she ticked off her observations on her shadowy clipboard._

_It was too much for him. Anger exploded out from him in a fiery torrent. "NO! I am NOT a failure! I will not die here!" He pointed his sword at the two shadows before him "Who are you to judge me anyway!? I get that enough from everyone else! YOU DON'T EXIST! YOU'RE NOT REAL!"_

_The red eyed giant seemed to loom even larger as it answered Jaune's anger with its own. "Impudent boy! We are part of you, we have always been a part of you. We are the legacy of the Arc's, the pure bloodline that you despoil and dilute with your failures! Your failure to fight! Your failure to complete your duties! Your failure to properly exist!"_

_Jaune's chest and throat tightened as before. This time it came not as a shock and he steeled his resolve.. He would not let this happen again. He would fight. If it meant suffocating where he stood, he would at least try to resist until he ran out of air. "No..." he gasped "I...will not let...I will fight you!" His throat continued to tighten, cutting off his flow of air he so desperately needed to live._

_"With what!?" the giant mocked. "You dare wield my weapon against me! The slayer of countless Grimm and Men untold! You assume too much, Jaune Arc, but my legacy is not among them!"_

_Jaune looked down. Crocea Mors was gone...and his shield with it. Looking up he saw the red eyed giant had them in his shadowy claws, the familiar arms swelled to match its titanic frame. Raising the sword he pointed it back at Jaune._

_"You are no Arc. You are unfit to hold that name..." The giant glowered into Jaune's face. As they locked eyes Jaune made the connection, what he had known in his bones, in his blood, making it, finally, to his mind. The burning shadow's features coalesced. It was Charlemagne Arc, the grand Patriarch of his family. Jaune continued to struggle against the invisible hands that were crushing his ribs and throat, defiantly staring back into those merciless burning pits that belonged to the crude spectre of his family's progenitor._

_"Ahh...well at least you managed to show some bravery in death. Perhaps a Spartan can accomplish what a Knight failed to achieve!" A flick of the family blade caused Jaune to flinch but it was from behind that the blow actually came. Jaune felt a hard thump in the center of his back. Looking down he saw a large red and gold lance jutting out from his chest. A flicker of comprehension crossed his face as he stared at the blood spattered spear, his still-beating heart skewered on it its tip._

_He staggered and turned, his lifeblood gushing out of the gaping wound surrounding the blade. "P-Pyrrha?" he gurgled. Behind him stood his teammate, only she wasn't. It looked like her, except...it was her eyes. Instead of her usual warm pools of jade there were hollow white orbs that shone with an unnatural glare. An impossibly wide crooked-toothed grin spread across her face, like a twisted jack-o-lantern he might have carved as a child. The grin grew wider still, threatening to crack her face in half. He tried to back away but his legs would not respond. No...not like this...this...this wasn't real..."Pyrrha what are you? You can't...please..._

_It spoke, the voice a twisted mockery of the real thing. "The hands of fate are arrayed against you Jaune...accept oblivion". With a quick wrench, the creature pulled the spear from Jaune's chest and he toppled forward into nothingness._

Jaune awoke screaming. Immediately his hands shot towards his breast plate searching for a hole that he could have sworn was there but his probing fingers found only the familiar nicked and scratched armor plating that sat over his sweat soaked hoody.

_Again with the nightmares...I'm going insane, aren't I?_

He sat for several minutes more to once again try to settle down from what should have been a restful sleep. Leaning against the tree he pushed himself back up, glancing about to see if anyone hadcome to investigate his scream. Thankfully the gardens were still deserted.

The sun above told him that he had not slept for long And checking his scroll confirmed that the nightmare had consumed a mere 45 minutes. Goodwitch's class would be getting out soon but he really didn't feel like being around anyone yet. He needed to talk with someone, just...not from here. He grabbed his bag and jogged in the direction of the main communications tower. As harrowing as the dream had been it had left him with the feeling that that some family advice was what he needed.


	5. Chapter 5 - Sisterly Advice

The communications tower was mostly deserted. Aside from a few scattered senior students on their free periods, the vast majority of the communications cubicles were empty. Jaune was thankful for that as he really didn't want to be around anyone from Beacon right now. He stepped up to the front desk and the holo-secretary flickered into life.

"Good afternoon and welcome to the Beacon Communications Hub. How can I be of assistance?" the hologram smiled vapidly at Jaune who was just thankful a real person wasn't there to take in his frazzled appearance.

"Uh yeah, are there any private communication terminal rooms available? I need to make a long distance call to Vacuo Memorial Hospital."

The private rooms lined the west side of the communication floor and were typically booked up but Jaune was hoping that maybe there might be an opening in the middle of the day with most of the school in class.

The holo-receptionist blinked as it processed the request, looking down as if to review the terminal in front of it. "Yes, Room number Three is available for the next 30 minutes.. Shall I set up a connection there for you?"

"Yes, please. Thank you." Jaune replied, hefting his bag and walking over to the far wall. Stepping into room number three he closed the sound proof door with a click and sat down in front of the comm terminal. Aside from the sleek looking comm computer, the room was sparsely appointed. Nothing more than a desk and a few chairs occupied the room plus a dedicated water dispenser in the corner from which he helped himself to two full cups having just realized he hadn't had anything to drink today beyond Grimmjaw.

Feeling less parched he returned to watch the computer hum and spool an animated "Please Wait Establishing Connection" message as it navigated the long distance lines to Vacuo's main hospital. He hoped the connection would go through and, more importantly, that she was actually available to talk.

Several seconds later a soft chime and a "Connection Established" message answered his first concern as an image popped up of a tired looking orderly shuffling scroll pads and rapid firing her boilerplate greeting into her headset.

"Vacuo Memorial Hospital. This is front desk. Note you are on an unsecured outside line. Please state the nature of your call." The clerk glanced, up, appearing irritated when Jaune didn't respond in the half-second pause since she finished her greeting.

"Uhm, yes! Hi!" Jaune stammered quickly. "I need to speak with Dr. Jean Arc, is she available?"

The clerk looked back down and typed commands into a console off camera. "I'm not sure but I will find out. Whom may I say is calling?" she fired back in her quick, efficient diction.

"Jaune Arc..." he paused "her younger brother."

The clerk hesitated for a fraction of a second, her eyes flicking back to the screen to take a second look at the brother of Dr. Arc. Despite working in the same hospital for several years, the orderly had never seen any of the Doctor's family members come visit her nor hear her speak of them. She could definitely see the resemblance, both physically and in the signs of fatigue. Workaholism must run in the family, she figured, though the kid looked even more run down than she had seen Jean and, she wondered if something might be wrong with him. She quickly set the thought aside as she prepped to transfer the call.

"Very well. Please hold, I will see if she is available." The screen went blank with a simple "Please Hold" message taking up the center of the screen. Jaune sighed. He had already used up 5 minutes staring at various forms of hold screens. He hoped he would have enough time even to speak with his sister at all. He felt a little guilty thinking how long it had been since he had last exchanged a letter with her, and even longer since he had seen her in person.

As the hold message flickered on the terminal he belatedly realized how much he missed her. Before she had taken a position at Vacuo Memorial, she had been practically a 2nd mother to the Arc household. Trying to compose himself he leaned back and stared at the ceiling, letting his mind wander over old memories.

It wasn't that his parents were lacking or inattentive, well maybe his Dad was, but he seemed at best distantly interested inanything that didn't involve killing Grimm. Both of them were more focused on what Jean had once derisively referred to as "keeping up appearances". Their stature as one of the "old families" required that they attend a lot of political, social and business related events pertaining to their family's holdings as inheritors of the Arc legacy. This meant many long weekends with neither Mom or Dad around and 8 children left to occupy themselves.

Through virtue of being the oldest, the responsibility of keeping things running mainly fell to Jean, though she was quick to draft the rest of her sisters and younger brother and make sure everyone pulled their weight around the household. As the youngest Jaune's main responsibility had usually been just staying out of the way. As he grew, however, he did develop one crucial skill that endeared him to the rest of his sisters: he could make a mean pot of coffee. He smiled absentmindedly at memories of Dustmas mornings with the whole family where that particular skill was quite in demand.

It was with Jean that he had probably the strongest bond out of all his siblings. While his other sisters treated him well enough, they were still siblings and acted as such. In their case it mainly involved press-ganging Jaune into dress up, tea parties and dancing competitions and making sure that no other girl in his elementary school ever dared approach the sole male Arc child lest they incur the combined wrath of his sisters' "protection".

With Jean it was different, maybe it was thanks to the greateer age difference, but he could actually open up more and ask her more serious questions that he never felt truly comfortable asking his parents. Despite her busy schedule becoming a huntress, then a Team leader and finally "settling down" to teach combat trauma medicine in Vacuo's capital, whenever she visited the house she always made time to talk with her little brother and try to impart upon him the "facts of life" as they were.

He really appreciated her perspective of being the first Arc child to leave home and make her place in the world. He was especially impressed how she didn't seem to let the burden of being the oldest and subsequently most visible bearer of the Arc legacy get to her at all. In fact, she never seemed to bring it up or engage in that topic of conversation at all, despite rather pointed attempts by their parents, especially when it came time to talk about her career and her marital prospects (or lack thereof.) She was every bit as confident in herself as Jaune wished he could be.

Jaune was jolted out of his reverie by the terminal screen finally clearing up to show his oldest sister's smiling face. Her dirty blonde hair had grown longer since the last time he had seen her, the majority of it tied back out of the way in a long plat. She flashed a smile at Jaune that extended all the way up to the jade green eyes behind her reading glasses. For the first time he realized they reminded him a lot of Phyrra's.

"Hey little brother, how's it going!?" She asked jauntily. "I haven't heard from you in a long time! Beacon treating you ok?" As she finished her greeting he saw her eyes narrow as she looked him over from across the continent.

"Hey sis, I'm glad I managed to get a hold of you. Do you have a few minutes to talk? I...kinda need some sisterly advice right now..." despite his efforts he couldn't prevent fatigue and a bit of melancholy from tinging his voice.

"Sure Jaune, what's going on?" Her tone had smoothly shifted from friendly big sister to surrogate mother and practicing doctor in a blink. "Are you alright? You look like hell..."

"Yeah...I've been getting that a lot" he replied sheepishly before brushing it off. "It's...it's...nothing, just sleep trouble. Look I needed to ask you something about us...about our family."

She cocked her head to one side. "Ooookaay, so we're going for the heavy stuff right away then...Jaune what's going on, where the heck is this coming from?" She paused before seeming to come to her own conclusion. "Did Dad give you "the talk" of how you have to "uphold our legacy" or some other crap like that?"

"Talk? No, I haven't gotten anything like that, what do you mean?" The mention of his Dad and legacy jolted him in a way he wasn't expecting. Fragments of his recent nightmares bubbled to the surface of his mind. _You defile our legacy..._

Jean sighed. "I knew this was going to happen, you're the only direct Male progeny of the Arc bloodline. I suppose it was only a matter of time before he started on you too".

Jaune was confused, struggling to follow where his sister was taking this conversation. "No, wait sis, hold on. I haven't had any conversations with Dad about our legacy...or anything really_."_ he stammered, realizing that he hadn't exchanged a word with his father for nearly 6 months.

"Oh!" she was a bit surprised but recovered quickly. "Well that's good at least. Never mind then! What's going with you, then? Are you ok? What did you want to talk about?" He wasn't sure which part of here was more on point – doctor or sister as she tried to dig out the problem at hand.

Jaune looked down. He struggled to put into words all that had been bothering him ever since he had fudged his way into Beacon and stepped foot off that transport. Once he started though he couldn't stop and he was soon spilling his guts the only person he had ever truly trusted.

"Sis...I'm thinking of dropping out of Beacon. I can't seem to learn to fight, let alone lead my team properly. I'm falling behind in my work, I can barely keep up in combat classes. I haven't won a single sparring match and now I'm having trouble sleeping. When I do sleep it's full of nightmares..."

He paused before continuing, his confessional causing a tightness in his chest that felt all too familiar. "...and now I've been reading in the history books here about how great our family is. I see all that Charlemagne and all of the other heads of the Arc dynasty have accomplished and...how am I supposed to live up to that? I have this history of greatness hanging over my head, I have professors who all expect the world of me simply because of my name and I can't maintain my aura for more than a few seconds much less figure out what my semblance is!"

And there it was. The bitter, poisonous seed of doubt and shame was laid bare for the first time. He honestly didn't know how she would handle it. He'd never revealed this much about himself to anyone, not even her

He looked at the comm screen to find her looking back with a frustrated, almost resigned expression like she had heard this all before.

"Hey now Jaune, that's a pretty rash thing to say don't you think? You haven't even been there for...what, not even a whole semester yet and you're talking like that? That doesn't sound like the brother I know..." the corners of her lips curled upwards into a smile of encouragement.

"But what am I supposed to do? How can I possibly live up to-"

"Okay now hold up!" she cut him off sharply, Jaune jerking back at her sudden outburst. "First off, you're in your first year at Beacon. You're starting at the ground floor just like everyone else does and from what I've heard from Ozpin, you've already gone up against actual Grimm in no-shit combat..." She ticked off on her fingers, "...the last thing you should be thinking about is some stupid legacy of what our long-since-dead ancestors did 400 plus years ago!"

She was really fired up now and Jaune was stunned. Where was this all coming from? He had never seen his sister so worked up before..._well maybe the beehive incident came close but-_

"Look Jaune. I can bet I experienced the same doubts and worries you're experiencing right now, maybe even more so since I was the first child. You never really noticed it because I kept it quiet from the rest of you and then later made sure to stay out of the house as much as possible."

"Sis what are you talking about? You were practically the star huntress of your graduating class, didn't you even win some special achievement for most Grimm necks broken or something in your final year?" He couldn't believe his tough, brash mouthed sister would have ever had a hard time in Beacon, the flawless progress reports sent back home certainly didn't seem to indicate so...

"Yeah, and did you notice how _thrilled _ Mom and Dad were with my accomplishments?" she rolled her eyes. "Yeah you would have thought I was the darling of the family with how much they were praising me." she commented with no small amount of sarcasm.

"Well...I did notice that they didn't seem as excited during your graduation as I thought they should have been but..." Jaune recalled the day now with a bit of embarrassment. That summer after Jean's graduation saw probably the worst argument Jaune had ever seen between his oldest sister and their parents.

"What happened between you and them anyway? You pretty much stopped talking to each other except during the holidays." His curiosity about that long summer was suddenly brought back, demanding to be satisfied.

"Pretty much the same crap you're probably worrying about now little bro." She leaned back in her office chair . "I was the eldest Arc child and I had a "_legacy_ " to uphold. Mom and Dad wanted me to hang up my huntress spurs and enter into an arranged marriage with some cousin of the Schnee family..."

Jaune gaped. "WHAT!?..they wanted to set up a marriage for you? Do people still do that? I thought that was only done in books or movies! Did you even know the guy?"

Jean shook her head. "Nah, not really, anyway. I met him a few times at those poncy ass parties we all had to go to as a family from time to time. Decent enough guy for a Schnee, but I don't think he was any more interested in me than I was in him. But yeah, the Arcs, Schnees and several of the other old-fart families still practice arranged marriages, though nowadays it all happens behind closed doors, can't let the rabble realize how much still comes down to what old-time hero you can trace your lineage back to."

She leaned forward before going on. "The point is, they wanted me to give up everything I had accomplished and most all of my plans for the future simply because they thought my marriage to someone from the Schnee family would be the best way to carry forth our family's name and history."

She was getting fired up again as she slammed her fist on the table, her image wobbling on screen. "That was the worst part, you know? They didn't care about all I struggled with at Beacon. They didn't give a damn about my academic or hunting accomplishments. They didn't care that I thought I WAS upholding the family name, worried about doing my part because I didn't know any better and had it practically beaten into me from day one that our name was more important than anything I would ever do as an individual! Turns out 'my part' wasn't as a huntress, but as a breeding sow." She once again shook her head in frustration before looking up.

"Did you know I wasn't even a team leader since after my first Dustmas home from Beacon?" she asked with a bitter grin.

"What?...but the progress reports..." Jaune started to say.

"Yeah, I know. They still said I was one on paper but I had one of my teammates, a smart kid from out in the steppes, basically lead the group. I knew after the first semester that leading was never going to be my thing. I wasn't cut out for it. I almost got us killed in a practice exercise because I was forcing myself to do something simply because our name and history said I had to. I ended up our team's combat medic and I was the goddam best Beacon ever had. I knew that wouldn't fly back home though so I asked Ozpin to forge those reports for me. I don't know why he agreed to do it, but there you go. Still wasn't enough." She shrugged. "My 2nd semester of my first year is where I discovered I had a talent for medicine and I've been pursing that ever since." she finished with no small amount of pride in her voice.

Jaune just sat there, his mind thoroughly blown. So _that_ was why his parents hardly spoke of Jean. Even when she came to visit for the Dustmas holidays there was unspoken tensions between them that Jaune had never figured out until now.

"Damn sis...I don't know what to say. But how can I possibly do something like that? How did you manage to find the courage to-" he was cut off by a shrill beeping and flashing blue light coming from some other monitor behind Jean.

"Ah grimmdamit that's a code blue." she grumbled to herself and stood up. She pointed directly at Jaune through the screen.

"Now listen. I know you're feeling overwhelmed and like the whole world is resting on your shoulders. I know you feel like you have no choice but to keep up the Arc legacy or whatever, but you need to get it through your skull that you don't-" she was cut off once again by the intercom blaring over the comm terminal.

"_DR ARC TO EMERGENCY ROOM 3. DR. ARC, PLEASE REPORT TO EMERGENCY ROOM 3 FOR INBOUND PATIENT"_

_"_I heard you the first time asshole!" she yelled off screen. She turned back again, gathering her lab coat and speaking fast. "Look, I can tell this is obviously upsetting you and frankly you look like you're coming apart at the seams." She looked down furiously flipping through something on her desk then cursed loudly. "Fuck! Ok I can't get any time off until the end of the month, you don't have any major things planned then do you? No missions or anything off campus?"

"No, I don't think so but-" he wanted to talk to her about his upcoming sparring exam but she cut him off again.

"Ok great, I'm coming up there and we're going to continue this conversation in person. You hold yourself together and DON'T YOU DARE drop out of Beacon before we've talked, alright? Or I swear I'll hunt you down myself and give you a prostate exam with my boot!" Her face softened a final time before she reached out to break the connection, "Stay safe ok?"

"Sure, sis," Jaune replied, but the connection was broken with a stark "CONNECTION TERMINATED" message on the screen.

Jaune sat for a few minutes staring at the empty screen. He was an even bigger mess of emotions then he had been coming in here. _Holy crap_. His sister had done all that? _And an arranged marriage? _ It was all mind-blowing but no part more than that she had gone toe-to-toe with their parents and won? Well, he wasn't sure he could call it "winning" exactly. Infrequent communication aside, being estranged from his family was not a fate he could contemplate lightly. Then again, she did seem truly proud of what she was doing, and he could tell even from their brief conversation here on the comm channel that she was happy, happier than he'd seen her in years.

A small beeper started chiming, warning him that he had five minutes left on his reservation. His all-too-brief talk with his sister over he decided to get out of there early before he ran into whoever had the room next. He still didn't want to talk to anyone else quite yet. Scooping up his bag he quickly left the comm room lost in his thoughts.

As crazy as their brief discussion had been the frustrating part was he hadn't been able to really get any solid advice out of his sister. The tangent of his sister's spat with their parents had completely sidetracked his original plan for talking with her. And then there was the revelation it all had to do with the very thing that had been weighing down on him in the first place. He honestly didn't know what to think. Stepping back out into the bright sunlight outside of the Comm tower he squinted his eyes and shaded them with this hand as he decided what to do next.

As he stood there in the bright afternoon sun, Goodwitch's warning about the upcoming sparring exam suddenly came back to mind. He needed to get that physical and get cleared. Disregarding the consequences for his marks if he missed it, his oldest sister was actually going to be here. Even if it meant facing Cardin again and getting his teeth kicked in, which for him was nothing new, it seemed far less traumatizing than the thought of trying to explain to his sister that, _oh by the way I wasn't allowed to fight because apparently I'm too much of a mental and emotional wreck to actually practice fighting but I get to write this essay instead see?_

_Yeah that'd go over great! _ he thought. Despite what she had said in the comm terminal, even he knew she had limits to her sense of pity and Jaune didn't want to test it.

Deciding that he should get it over with as soon as possible he squared his shoulders and headed down the hill towards the infirmary at the other end of campus.


	6. Chapter 6 - Of Blood and Dust

As luck would have it, Jaune started his journey across campus just as another period had begun leaving the paths deserted of students. He managed to work himself up to a slow jog despite the raging migraine he was experiencing from his fatigue and Grimmjaw crash. It actually felt pretty good all things considered. Spotting the infirmary building across the main courtyard, he angled himself over in that direction. As he got closer, he noticed a large group of what appeared to be armored huntresses and hunters clustered around the front entrance. He slowed his pace as he approached them.

They appeared to be senior students from what he could tell, they were certainly taller and larger than him by a large margin. Many also appeared to have just come back from a mission. Several were sitting on the ground, heads hung low in exhaustion or staring at nothing with glazed over eyes. Nearly every one bore scars of battle, their gear covered in mud, and in some cases blood. None of them paid him any attention as he crossed the threshold into the admitting area and stepped into a miniature warzone.

It was bedlam. Students, nurses and doctors packed the admitting area more tightly than Jaune had ever seen it. The patients in the lobby were in really bad shape. They were packed onto chairs, gurneys and in a couple of cases on the floor passed out. Several had visibly broken limbs in crude splints, while some had wounds hastily covered in blood soaked bandages. A couple of them looked like they had some kind of severe internal trauma judging by the hasty attempts at triage by several nearby doctors. Moans of pain and shouts of panic echoed across the large lobby in some twisted cacophony. His stomach churned at the ghastly sight and he hoped he wouldn't toss his cookies and add to the numerous body fluids already smeared on the floor.

* * *

Picking his way across, he managed to flag down a nurse wearing scrubs spattered with multiple types of blood.

"Excuse me, can you help me? I need to see a nurse right away."

The disheveled looking male nurse looked him over quickly. "What is it kid? Speak fast I've got a lot of work to do and a lot of cases to get to before this nightmare of a day is over."

Jaune quickly obliged him. "I need to see a nurse for a physical examination. I believe Glynda Goodwitch said I had to get one today." He tried to keep himself as calm as he possibly could, but the screams and moans bouncing around the lobby unsettled him to no end. Each scream or moan kept making him fidget nervously as he tried to block them out.

"Are you kidding me? You're seriously asking for a regular physical right now with all of this going on?" He motioned around, then quickly tapped a few commands in his scroll pad looking through his files. Jaune noticed bloody prints all over the backside and wondered just how crazy things were here. Would they even see him at all?

A small beep chimed and the nurse scowled at the pad, sighed, then looked up at him. "Goddammit. Ok look, I know that Professor Goodwitch personally scheduled you for this physical today, last minute and all that, but as you can probably see we're kinda in a mess right now." He continued to tap furiously into his scroll-pad. "Normally, I'd tell you to go pound sand but this comes from Ozpin's number two and I'm not about to have either of them on my ass about this."

"What happened here?" Jaune asked quickly, his curiosity getting the better of his mounting squeamishness.

"A fucking disaster happened that's what. A cleanup mission turned into a search and destroy, which then turned into a clusterfuck of a CASEVAC to put it simply." A bright red light started flashing on his pad interrupting his tirade. "...ah dammit another one? Ok kid, walk with me. I have to get this taken care of before I do anything else. Stay close but stay the hell out of my way."

* * *

He took off down the nearest hallway with Jaune trailing not far behind. More students and nasty looking injuries lined the hall as they practically ran down the hall and darted into what looked like some kind of operating room.

An older dark-skinned hunter was strapped down on an operating table as they entered. He was screaming loudly and as another nurse shifted positions around him, Jaune saw why. A large Grimm bone spine was sticking several inches out of his left shoulder and was bleeding freely. His whole left side looked like it had been dunked in a bucket of blood. The nurses kept having to subdue him as thrashed furiously against the restraints in what had to be pure agony.

A fresh surge of nausea threatened to overwhelm him at the sight of so much blood but he managed to keep a lid on it for the moment. He quickly tried to direct his gaze at anywhere but the hunter in front of him but couldn't. The screams the young man was making made that impossible. The hunter was obviously going through hell, yet was lucid enough to argue with the nurse team as they tended to him.

"That hurts godddaaaughh! Where's my team!? ARRGGH! FUCK! Where are they! I need to know!"

"Calm down son I'm sure they're fine. We need to focus on you now okay?" The smallest of the nurses tried to reassure him. She had been working on trying to attach leads to the various monitors situated around the bed before the hunter jerked out of the way again.

"NO! Aaugh! No! I need to find them! The Grimm are gonna get them! I'm their team leader! Let me go!" He stared at the nearest nurse with wide bulging eyes. "Where the fuck are they!? OW GODDAMIT THAT HURTS!"

The male nurse Jaune had come in with barked orders to the other two in the room as they hurried around doing their work. Jaune could see that they were having difficulty stabilizing the wound caused by the spine.

"Sandy, can we do something to calm him down?, he's thrashing around so much it's making the wound worse! He's driving the spine deeper!"

"I don't know Marcus, that's why I called you in on this one. I wasn't sure we could give him a sedative with how low his blood pressure is already, he's lost a lot of blood!"

"Getting an IV started right now!" the third nurse called. She was bigger than the other two and used her large arms to pin the hunter's right arm down to place the stick. The hunter moaned loudly as the IV line was started.

"You have a transfusion started on him?" The male nurse apparently named Marcus noted the two bags on the tree.

"Yup, standard cocktail with a Unit of universal donor. What about the happy juice?"

"Start him off light, give him the one laced with White Flower dust at 5% dilution and lets see how he responds. I want to get him stable before we put anything else in there."

The larger nurse nodded and ran over to a nearby cabinet grabbing a tiny vial and a disposable syringe. Quickly extracting a small amount of brightly glowing white liquid, she plunged it into a receptacle in the clear IV bag, watching their patient as she did so.

Almost immediately the hunter's eyes widened then closed slightly as his whole body went limp. He was still moaning and shifting around lethargically, but whatever they had injected into his IV had taken the worst of the fight out of him.

"Hooookaayy...much better" Marcus sighed tiredly. "Sandy how's he looking?"

The small nurse who went by Sandy was reviewing the monitor near the boy's bed. "He's stabilizing but his blood pressure is still lower than I like it. Lets get another unit in him if we can scrounge it up. I'll keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't go further into shock."

"Thanks. Lilah, what do you think? You've been helping out with Dr. Kovacs in the ER for the past couple of months, think you can handle this extraction?"

"Lilah" was bent over the twitching patient and looked at the wound closely. Jaune couldn't help but be intimidated by her size. Fully twice as tall as Jaune was, her arms were as thick as his head was wide. _Man her parents must have had a twisted sense of humor. Who the hell names a giant like her Lilah?_ he thought to himself.

"I want to see x-rays first." she said with a surprisingly gentle voice that belied her frightening appearance. "If that thing is embedded between his collar bone or socket I'd feel better riding shotgun and having Dr. Kovacs or one of the other surgeons take the lead, I've never done such a deep extraction before."

"Gotcha. Ok assuming he takes the next transfusion well, lets move him into the Standby OR and prep him for surgery. Nice work everyone." They all nodded to each other and got back to work tending to the patient. Marcus motioned for Jaune to follow him outside into the hall.

* * *

As he closed the door behind him he let out another tired sigh. "Well there you go. That's been my day since about three o'clock this morning." He stretched his arms and shook his head to loosen himself. "Alright, lets see here. Says here on the scroll your name is Jaune Arc. Huh, alrighty then, small world! Goodwitch said you needed a physical right? Why the hell did she schedule a physical for you now all of a sudden? Those are usually done at the beginning of the year."

"It's to clear me for practical sparring matches in our class. Professor Goodwitch wanted me to get one because she...well..." Jaune paused unsure of how to tell him of his situation.

"She...? What? Come on kid what's your deal? I have 20 more patients like that one ahead of me and don't have time to play detective." Marcus prompted him impatiently.

Jaune was backed into a corner, Marcus was obviously not in the mood to mess around and he had to get a medical clearance from someone. Then again, even he wasn't sure why Goodwitch had sent him off here, she hadn't even elaborated the reason for the sudden physical appointment.

"Ok I know this sounds crazy, but you're familiar with Aura techniques right?" Jaune asked quickly.

"Yeah yeah, I was a hunter once too, what about them?"

Jaune continued on. "Alright, this is going to be hard to explain but...we were in her class practicing some kind of sustainment exercise. I was told to make a shield out of my Aura and hold it for as long as I could."

"Sounds normal enough...so? What happened?"

"So...that's the thing. I know I produced some kind of aura or shield, or...something. Whatever it was, it didn't feel right. My heart started beating kind of crazy-like, unstable I guess, I was sweating uncontrollably and when I finished it the whole class was looking at me like I had sprouted antlers on my head or...I dunno. Basically, Goodwitch took one look at me and scheduled me for a physical right then and there and kicked me out of the class! In front of everybody!" Jaune wished he could have done a better job explaining the experience, it sounded incredibly stupid on reflection.

Marcus blinked several times. "Okay...let me get this straight. You were asked to make an aura shield, you say you tried to make the shield, felt some heart palpitations and got really sweaty? That's it? You sure you weren't spouting blood or something?" he asked with no small amount of incredulity.

"No! Dammit! I didn't leak blood or anything like that! I tried to make a shield, Goodwitch freaked out, and sent me here! End of story!"

Marcus didn't respond at once. He was again scrolling back to the notification from Goodwitch about the physical. Apparently he found some notes he hadn't noticed earlier and was reading more slowly this time, muttering the details to himself as he read the request.

"Student displays unbalanced constitution..yadda yadda...aura incredibly unstable...huh...not assuming proper form...pulsing...green? Damn Jaune what the heck did you do? Pulsing green aura blob? The heck is she talking about?"

"_That's_ what she said I did? I had no idea...she never said why she sent me over here. I assumed she just thought I looked really bad or something..."

"Well you do look like hell to be perfectly frank. Could do with a shower too based on the smell alone, but then again all of us here could I imagine..." Marcus replied with a tired smile then got serious. "Ok look, I can't get you a full top-to-bottom physical with what's going on right now, there's just too much going on with this disaster to warrant spending that much time. I can give you a quick- and-dirty and that should be good enough for Goodwitch. You ok with that?"

"Y-Yes!" Jaune replied at once. "Whatever works, lets get it done!"

"Alright then, step into my "office" and lets get this over with!" He pulled Jaune quickly into a door across the hall and found himself in what appeared to be a large supply room with a large desk that had to belong to the supply clerk that usually worked here.

* * *

"Uhm..." Jaune paused and looked around. "We're doing it...here? Really?" he inquired delicately.

"Hey!" He jabbed a finger at Jaune. "You wanted a quick-and-dirty. Bedside manner and proper facilities are extra. Now strip down to your skivvies and let me get a few things to get started." He walked off through the racks and shelves grabbing things as he went.

Jaune was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea. But Marcus was right, he'd never get his physical today with everything going on back there in the admitting room. He decided to roll with it and peeled off his dirty clothes until he was down to his boxers. Marcus returned carrying a few sealed bags and putting on a fresh pair of latex gloves.

"Alright good. I see Beacon is still keeping physical fitness standards up to scratch. Probably won't have to worry about your cholesterol levels will I?"

Jaune tried to return a smile at the attempt at doctor's humor but it faltered before it even started.

"Sheesh, relax man. This will go a lot smoother if you loosen up. Ok, I'm going to start with a blood test. I need to draw a sample and let it run through the analyzer." He approached with a small syringe. "Now hold steady aaaaand, there we go, got it!" Jaune winced as the needle jabbed into his arm and the small ampule filled with his blood. It had an odd yellowish tinge to that was visible even in the dim light of the storeroom.

"Huh...well that's different." Marcus looked over at Jaune then back at the vial. "Alright let me get that analyzer started and we'll move on to the rest of the exam ok?"

"Sure. How long will it take?" Jaune asked.

"Not too long actually. These newer kits can give a full battery of the major tests in about 10 minutes. Freaking lifesavers these things are..." Marcus had already inserted the vial into the device and closed the lid. The machine hummed quietly as it began to work.

Marcus began his exam. Despite claiming this was a "quick-and-dirty" he was still pretty thorough. He did the usual tests of checking his breathing and heart rate, then moved on to checking for hernias and testing his flexibility with his various joints, all the while asking various questions about Jaune's health habits lately. Satisfied, he then moved on for a closer inspection to Jaune's head and mouth.

"Damn Jaune, you have got some _severe_ inflammation of your Sclera here..."

"My what?"

"The whites of your eyes. You said you weren't allergic to anything right?"

"Well I've never really come across anything my body has badly reacted to I think." Jaune evaded nervously. _How am I supposed to explain those damn energy drinks? _He decided to try and steer the conversation away from him onto something else.

"Uhm do you think that student you were working on earlier will be ok? He looked really messed up..."

"Him? Ehhh not sure. That kind of injury can be dangerous, but he certainly didn't help it any by thrashing around like he did. That thing was jammed in so tight, I'll be amazed if we can take it out without ruining his shoulder." Marcus switched his examination to Jaune's other eye as he talked, frowning at what he saw.

"Yeah..." Jaune shuddered as he vividly recalled the image of that bloody white spine sticking out of the hunter's flesh. "I was amazed he could still speak in all that pain. He was really worried about his team back there...was he one of the students from that mission you talked about in the lobby?"

"Yeah he was one of them. He was one of the last ones the drop-ships dropped off here if I recall. Quite a few teams were involved in this mission, but beyond that I don't know." his tone seemed slightly more distant now. Jaune noticed as he was looking at Jaune's physical notes and frowning more often as he continued with his tests.

"Do you know if his other team mates made it? He seemed more worried about them then about himself..." Jaune felt a sudden twinge of kinship for the nameless hunter in that surgery room. He was a leader worrying about his team's well-being before his own. Despite having a giant bone shard sticking out of him and leaking blood like a sieve, all that hunter cared about was making sure his team was ok...he wondered if he'd ever have that kind of connection with his teammates...he reflected he probably would given similar circumstances.

"No idea, I've just been going from patient to patient trying to triage the worst cases. I haven't asked about which team he belongs to, but it would be nice if he pulls through. He obviously cares a lot about his teammates but when you're bleeding out like a stuck pig you should focus more on actually surviving than worrying about anybody else. A dead leader is useless to everyone." He shook his head.

Jaune was quiet for a moment. Marcus' observations about the hunter had struck closer to home than he realized. Jaune was pretty much doing the same thing to himself only on a less...bloody scale. He was so focused on trying to figure out what being a leader meant and deal with his issues alone, only to realize he had let his body and mind degrade to the point that he was now getting a physical in a storeroom next to cartons of toilet paper. He looked back over at Marcus as he was scribbling some notes.

"You look like you have a pretty good team there yourself. I was really impressed how you and those other two nurses work together."

"Who, Sandy and Lilah? Haha, yeah we do alright I guess."

"You guess!?" Now it was Jaune's turn to be incredulous. "Are you kidding? You guys were a machine! I saw you all in there. You hardly communicated with each other and yet you guys took care of that patient like it was nothing! Meanwhile I'm over in the corner trying not to puke my guts out and you all hardly broke a sweat."

"Well a lot of that comes with practice and working together you know that right?" Marcus responded, a note of pride still edging into his voice.

"Of course but..." Jaune hesitated for a moment before asking a question he had never dared ask anyone since being granted his team leader position of team JNPR.

"...how do you...ok this is going to sound really stupid but...how did you learn to be an effective leader? Like, I'm a leader of my own team. When I try ask my teachers about leadership is all I get from them is that "I'll figure it out", or "Leadership is more than about just directing and fighting battles", but I've never gotten anything concrete to turn to and go "OH! Ok, yeah that makes sense!", you know?"

Marcus cocked his head and looked up in contemplation. "Well honestly, a big part of it Jaune is simply to really know your team and yourself."

"There's got to be more than that..." Jaune responded crossing his arms.

"Oh of course, but it still is a big part of it. Knowing your team is one thing, but you have to actively do things with them to truly understand how you'll work together." He continued further after Jaune looked back at him quizzically. "What I mean is, when you're doing things together you each have to be mindful of how each of you is handling the situation. Everyone is different. Everyone has their pluses and minuses and only by actively paying attention to that fact will you learn how to work together as a team and get things done. Look, I'll give you an example..."

He set his tools down on the supply desk and took a look at the blood analyzer. It still had a few minutes left. "...Ok, you saw how well we worked together back there. That didn't happen overnight. You saw how well Lilah did that IV right?"

Jaune nodded.

"Ok, when she first started working here, she absolutely refused to do them. She didn't want to do them because she was afraid her...uh_..._larger than normal hands wouldn't be good at placing a stick. Sandy noticed that she was always avoiding doing them and helped her practice. Soon enough, Lilah is basically our sharps wizard and is also training to help out extractions in the ER. She has very flexible fingers, who knew?" He shrugged, then chuckled. "Then you have Sandy. She's our tech expert. You can thank me for that" He grinned proudly. "We found that out quickly enough when Lilah tried working the EKG machine and chucked it out the window in frustration in the middle of a post-op."

"She really did that?" Jaune imagined the chaos that must have caused.

"Oh god that was a horrible day no joke. Still, I saw Lilah and technology didn't get along well despite my attempts at trying to train her on it. Sandy on the other hand took to it like fish to a lake, so I had her train up on the various electronic medical equipment we use here."

The analyzer hummed with a small chime as it completed the final series of tests. A small printer began printing out results on several sheets of paper. Marcus continued as he waited for the printout.

"Ultimately Jaune we work well together because we actively help each other discover our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. That can only come with every member trusting each other to do what they're good at, and helping each other to get better as well. When dealing with life or death situations you have to be able to trust your teammates to do their thing without a second thought. I know I can count on Lilah to handle rowdy patients and make a perfect IV among other things. I know Sandy will be able to read and analyze patient data from a mound of the messiest paper printouts and make sure the EKG is working properly. They trust me to know my own skills and to make sure I utilize them to the best of their abilities."

"Wow..." Jaune was thoroughly impressed. "You really know a lot about them don't you?"

"Yup! Well as much as they'll let me know anyway. Like I said, everyone's different and got their own quirks. Sandy can drink any of us under the table and goes Grimm hunting for shits and giggles. Lilah loves trying on pretty dresses and painting her nails on her days off..."

"You're kidding, that giant lady likes playing dress-up?"

"Nope not kidding, and don't ever tell them I told you that. Especially Lilah. She'll snap your spine in half."

"Seriously?"

"Like. A. Twig." he snapped his fingers for effect. He gathered the last of the printouts and quickly started scanning through them.

* * *

"All right lets see here...ok your basic bloodwork numbers are ok. CBC, CMP all show mostly normal, your BP was much higher than normal by the way, figured I'd mention that before we go further."

Jaune fidgeted nervously pretending he knew what those acronyms meant. "Oh...yeah...well you know Beacon's been kicking me around lately, I'm still playing catchup...lots of stress, late nights, you know..."

"Uh huh..." Marcus didn't look up from the papers. He then flipped over to the Chemistry Panel and Toxicology section and stopped.

"What the..." He had to read that again...that couldn't be right. He was looking at the section that specifically charted the presence of dust particles in the bloodstream. Hunters in general always had elevated levels present in their blood compared to civilians due to the gear they used but this...

These results went way beyond elevated. Two lines charting two different types of Green dust were completely off the scale. He looked up and fixed Jaune with a serious look. His pleasant demeanor had evaporated.

"Jaune. I'm going to ask you some questions and I need you to answer me truthfully ok?"

"Uhh...ok? What's going on?"_Oh crap he knows...he found something._

"Are you currently taking any prescription medications that you forgot to mention?"

"No, pretty much the only thing I've taken is some over the counter painkillers for really bad sparring days why-"

"-Any _dust-_based prescription medication? Any illegal drugs?" Marcus interrupted him. Jaune was having trouble meeting his penetrating glare.

"N-No...not really..." he looked down.

"Jaune...don't try and BS me here. I may be just a charge nurse, but I know a bit about medical applications of dust. This dust spectrum report here shows levels of two different types of Green dust in your blood so high my scale doesn't even cover them. Evergreen and Grow dust are saturated throughout your system. These guys normally show up in painkillers, mil-spec chemical accelerants, even some psychotropic drugs. Many of them are illegal, and none of them are available over the counter. At these levels frankly, I'm surprised your heart hasn't exploded...just what the hell are you doing man?"

Jaune grew red from embarrassment and shame. He was trapped and he knew it. He couldn't see an out of this one, not with a nurse and printed evidence damning him.

"I've...I've been drinking these energy drinks to keep up with my classes and homework...Grimmjaws I think they're called. I've been pretty much drinking them daily ever since the final exam dates have been announced. They've been the only thing that allows me to stay up late, practice sparring and try to do everything that's expected of me as a leader in this damn place." He replied bitterly.

"Grimmjaws...never heard of those. Where did you get them? Are you sure you're telling me everything here Jaune?" He continued to glare down at him.

"Seriously, that's it. I got them from a friend, she didn't say where she picked them up from but that's all I've been using. That's the truth." Jaune was finally able to return the gaze albeit half-heartedly.

Marcus continued to look at him for a moment longer, then looked down at the printouts. "Alright. I cannot be more serious about this. Whatever it is you're drinking, whether it really is energy drinks or that you're somehow mainlining dust vials down your throat, you need to stop immediately. Have you been experiencing any adverse side effects from these things? I already see the inflammation of your eyes, but anything else?"

_Oh you know, only visions of my teammate skewering me in the chest or my family's history literally crushing me to death in my sleep. _"I've been having...really bad nightmares. I don't know if it's the stress of my school or these drinks but...they're horrible. I basically haven't had a solid night's sleep in over 2 weeks. I've been having constant migraines, my piss is neon green and I've lost my appetite as well..."

"That sounds about right, though the neon green piss is certainly new..." Marcus shrugged. "It's probably the combination of the dust they were using and the massive caffeine intake you've been getting from them." He flipped through the rest of the printout then set it down on the table.

"Alright Jaune, here's the thing." He sat down next to him. "Normally when we encounter someone with this level of dust concentration in their blood, it's essentially like a poison case. We try to introduce some kind of antidote, detox, counter-dust or something."

"Can you do that for me?" Jaune suddenly asked, hope clearly etched across his face.

"No, not in this case." Marcus responded sadly.

* * *

Jaune sagged with the news. "What!? Why?"

"Because your body isn't responding like a conventional dust overdose. A dust concentration of any color of that level should be causing you violent waking hallucinations, vomiting, major aura instability, shock, the whole nine-yards. Any other person with those levels would have come in here on a stretcher, not on their own two feet. It sounds like you already started to have those aura problems based on the description I'm getting from Goodwitch. However your blood work and vitals outside of your Blood Pressure and inflamed eyes don't reflect any of that. If I hadn't seen the dust analysis I would have you pegged as a normal healthy kid that's just stressed out. Hell, the fact nothing worse has happened to you yet is proof of that."

He stood up. "With that kind of inconsistency, I don't want to introduce another variable in your system and have it cause some kind of nasty reaction. So here's what we're going to do. You want to be able to get back into the sparring arena? Then you're going to have to quit those drinks cold turkey and try to purge your system of your dust buildup the natural way."

"W-what do you mean? How do I do that?" Jaune nervously looked at Marcus.

"Basically what you should have been doing as a healthy kid from the beginning. Keep up your workouts and sweat it out. Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night, make sure you're eating healthy. In your case specifically focus on vegetables and high fiber foods to help with purging the dust out of your system. Not gonna lie you're going to have some nasty shits, but they will help clean the accumulated dust residue out of your bloodstream."

He picked up his bloody scroll pad and started typing up a message to Goodwitch. "Next, drink as much water as you can, I'm talking way more than the usual amount you do everyday. It will also help with flushing out your system, just like the food. Regular non-caffeinated sports drinks are fine too to keep your electrolyte levels up." He paused, looking over his scroll again.

"I see here Goodwitch is specifically barring you from taking part in any physical sparring matches including the final exam at the end of the month. So that's our goal then. I'll clear you for the final exam at least, that should give you plenty of time to get that nasty crap out of your system."

Jaune nodded. "Ok, I'll do my best. Can I do anything about the migraines? Like, take something for them?"

Marcus hesitated. "Honestly I'm not sure. Like I said, this is kind of uncharted territory for me, I don't know how they'll react to the amount of dust in your system. Nothing stronger than Aspirin for now, and make sure to take it with a full stomach."

He tapped in the final notes in his pad and was rewarded with a small chime. "Ok, it's done. Follow my instructions and you should be ready for your final."

Jaune was already putting his clothes back on. "Thanks Marcus, I really appreciate it. And thanks for doing this in the middle of all this chaos. I'm glad I got to see your team in action!"

"Hey I'm just glad I managed to stop you from doing something stupider than mainlining illicit dust laced energy drinks. Seriously though, how you have that much dust in your system without keeling over dead is a mystery to me and my profession." He placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"Look Jaune, I don't know how well your body is going to handle this big of a detox. If something goes wrong I want you to head over here right away and see me, and only me ok? You are going to experience some fresh forms of hell over the next couple of days. I wish I had something better to offer to make it less painful but I don't. I don't want to introduce anything that might react with the dust already inside of you. Now is the time to lean on your team to help you through this, you're definitely going to need them."

"I will Marcus, and thanks again...for everything" Jaune headed for the hallway with Marcus following closely behind stretching his arms and neck as they walked.

"You're welcome Jaune. Ahhh well, while that was a nice break, I've got to get back to Mr. ShoulderSpike over there and see how he's doing. You take care of yourself ok? And no more of those energy drinks you hear?"

"You got it!" Jaune replied confidently as he headed back towards the main lobby. Inwardly he still felt uneasy. He had to quit the one thing that had been allowing him to barely keep pace with his work, and then there was the talk of his detox...hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as Marcus had warned him about. It sounded like the upcoming days were going to be even worse than anything he had experienced so far.

He entered the lobby area again to find it in slightly less chaos than he had first seen it. The lobby had been cleared slightly, and there no longer were injured students sprawled on the floor. People were still running about and shouting orders, but he could tell things were at least settling down to some degree. Making his way outside he saw some of the same hunters he had seen earlier from where he had first entered. A group of three off to the side was huddled together crying quietly while looking at their scroll pads. It looked like they were part of the same team and had just received some bad news.

As Jaune passed them by he saw one of them smile as she looked up. "He's going to be ok! They got the bleeding under control! They said he's going to pull through!" she sobbed happily.

"Thank the gods..." another whispered hoarsely. They all hugged each other and walked inside to the lobby.

Jaune genuinely smiled for what felt like the first time in weeks. _I've been an idiot, multiple times over_. He thought. He had neglected his team for too long trying to deal with his problems. He swore to himself right then and there he'd never do that again. Picking up his pace and inhaling the warm outside air, he ran towards the dormitories to find his team and start the process of learning how to be a team leader again.


	7. Chapter 7 - Team Intervention

**Good morning everyone and thanks for reading so far! Today we find Jaune finally confronting his team over his antics and the secret of those nasty little Grimmjaws is revealed to them. As always, thanks for the likes and favorites! Enjoy!**

Feeling invigorated by the fresh air, it took Jaune only a few minutes to get back to the dorms. Reaching for his scroll to unlock the main door he realized with some surprise it was completely turned off. _Crap when the hell did I turn it off? Was it before I fell asleep, when I ran over to the comm tower?_

Racking his brain he attempted to recall when, or if? he had actually switched it off. He _had_ wanted to be alone and not talk to anyone, but he was so distracted he didn't remember consciously deactivating the device..._Maybe it just got bumped off when I had it in my bag?..._He quickly powered it on and got hit with a fusillade of missed call notifications, text alerts, _482 email notifications!?, what the hell!?_ Taking priority over even the stack of notifications was some kind of school-wide notification that he was to report in as soon as possible.

_Geez...I was only gone for a few hours guys...okay...quite a few hours...but still...I can't be that important can I?..._then again he had never powered off his scroll before either. They were used for nearly everything on a daily basis from unlocking doors, downloading assignments, buying food on campus, and...

..._keeping track of students_.

He groaned. He might as well _have_ dropped off the face of Remnant as far as Beacon Academy was concerned, no wonder his scroll made it seem like half the world was looking for him.

"Ah crapbaskets..." this was not going to be easy. His sudden eagerness to meet his team had been just as rapidly replaced with mounting dread at the prospect of confronting, at a minimum, a very worried team and trying to explain his disappearance.

"So much for starting off on the right foot on teambuilding you idiot..." he muttered to himself as he climbed the stairs to his floor.

As if this newly returned stress wasn't bad enough his migraine had reasserted itself rather badly, his head throbbing something fierce with each step he took. Squinting, he was also seriously considering smashing every single light in the dorm hallways just to stop the stabbing pains in his eyeballs. This must have been what Marcus was warning him about, his detox had begun and he had a feeling it would only get worse from here...

As the pain behind his eyes continued to get worse, he started thinking that first he had to at least get some aspirin and water in him. The water he had drunk back in the comm tower seemed like from a previous life, and the first pangs of real urgent hunger had begun to gnaw at his stomach. _Can I still get to the cafeteria? They should be open now, I think... _he wondered, checking his scroll. It would be better than another one of those protein bars or jerky he had squirreled away under his bed...He shook his head of the thought. No, he had to face his team first, he'd rather have it here in the privacy of their dorm room rather than risk running into anyone else or having a confrontation in front of the rest of the school in the cafeteria.

After what felt like far too many stairs, he finally reached his dorm floor to find it apparently deserted. Looking around and listening as hard as he could he could detect no indication of anyone being around. It was still quiet as he crossed the hallway and approached the door to his-no his _team's_ room, he corrected himself. _Maybe they're still out?_ he thought hopefully. That would at least give him a chance to shower, clear his head, maybe get himself ready for facing his teammates again. The throbbing pain in his head was beginning to dissolve away at the enthusiasm coming out of his meeting with the nurse but he gritted his teeth and continued to put one step in front of another.

Staggering up to the door he waved his scroll in front of the keypad, and the lock softly clicked open. He pushed open the door and had enough time to note that his room had more people in it than normal before a loud shriek of noise and what seemed like a red tornado collided with him. Having enough difficulty merely standing unaided, the impact bowled him over backwards, and he slammed to the floor of the doorway.

There was shouting, he heard feet moving, his head was pounding from the impact, and someone was...crying? Trying to sit up he looked up to see a waterfall of fiery red hair and two familiar green eyes leaking tears on his chest.

"P-Pyrrha?" he gasped. "Hey, it's me, I'm sorry about surprising you like that-"

"Where have you been!?" she screamed, pounding on his chest. "Y-you left Goodwitch's class, we couldn't find you in the hospital with all of those injured hunters, you never went back to the dorms, you didn't answer our scroll messages!..."

She punctuated every accusatory statement with a solid punch and Jaune winced as each connected with his chest. She wasn't hitting him with her full strength, but wasn't exactly holding back either. Her tears scattered everywhere as she continued to scream at him.

"I was so *hic* worried you had gone off...and...*hic*...done s-something!...something!..." she raised her fist for another punch as she tried to search for something else to accuse him of.

"...incredibly stupid, foolish, dumb, immature, selfish and not-leaderlike...?" Jaune offered with an attempt at humor and a smile that was probably at least half pained grimace.

She lowered her hand and hiccuped again. "You forgot snarky you stubborn mule..." she still sounded angry with him as she wiped back the tears, but the edges of her mouth flickered with the tiniest of smiles.

"Heh, well that's certainly a new one, but I won't argue." he stated. Pyrrha slid off his chest and lithely returned to her feet only to quickly turn back into the dorm towards the bedroom. Jaune felt a sudden twinge of sadness at the quick retreat. She was still upset with him and certainly she had every right to be...but it still hurt nonetheless. With considerably less grace he pulled himself off the floor and walked back into the room.

His aching mind moving forward from Pyrrha's accusation and rejection he looked around to confirm his initial observation about it being significantly more crowded than usual. Both his team, less Pyrrha, now, and Team RWBY were all here. As he crossed the threshold he was bombarded with a torrent of questions and shouts as they all gathered around him. Some concerned, some angry...they all seemed to assault him at once.

"Jaune where _were_ you!-"

"We looked all over for you!-"

"Completely irresponsible you dolt, what a waste of time!-"

"Man! Vomit-Boy you're stinking worse than usual-"

"I'm glad you're ok!"

"What about Goodwitch? What about your physical?"

Despite his worsening migraine, despite his body ready to give out after a day he'd rather soon forget, Jaune found the courage to stand there facing his team and his friends to take it all silently. He felt he had to really. He had let them all down and it was only fair that he took some punishment for it. The conflicting voices fading into a background hum, he glanced around to note with some surprise that not all of them were participating in the interrogation. Off in the corner Ren was sitting at his desk near the open window with Weiss looking over his shoulder intently. He had some kind of chemistry set in front of him and next to it was...the wooden crate still half-full of Grimmjaws... Jaune realized with a pang of terror. Also ignoring him now Pyrrha had slumped down on her bed. Arms crossed she was angrily glaring at him, reddened tear filled eyes nearly the same shade as the mussed hair she peered at him through.

His attention drawn back to the accusations and recriminations being thrown at him by a brief pause in the barrage he exploited the opportunity like he was in one of his sparring exercises. "Guys..." he raised his hands in surrender. "...I-I'm really sorry I put you all through that. I really am."

A few "hmphs" and other skeptical noises greeted his words, but he pressed on. "...and, I know that is not enough to make up for what happened. Not by a long shot. I screwed up, and as a team leader I take full responsibility for it." He made sure to make eye contact with Pyrrha in particular as he spoke. Even in her anger he found himself drawing strength from her gaze.

"I'll explain what's going on with me, Goodwitch and...everything, but first I need some Aspirin and some water...Ren do you have a bottle handy?"

No sooner than he had finished asking for it then Ren had tossed him a small plastic bottle, the bottle perfectly arcing through the air without the man even looking up from his work. Jaune tried to reach for it, but his fatigue and blurring vision had more than caught up with him and he grasped only air, missing the bottle by a mile as it sailed past his finger tips and smacked him right in the eye.

"Gahhggh!...god dammit..." he cursed quietly, the searing pain of the impact somehow slicing past his more generalized aches. He dropped his bag and cupped one of his hands to his eye while his other grabbed the pill bottle form the floor.

"Jaune are you ok!?" Ren asked with actual concern in his voice, his concern joined by several gasps from others in the room. That was certainly a first, Jaune noted as he had never before heard Ren even so much as raise his voice at Nora, even on her worst days.

"I'm fine Ren, seriously! I just flubbed the catch is all..." he lowered his hand and quickly popped the cap off the pill bottle. He shook a few pills out before he stopped suddenly and remembered his instructions from Marcus. Quickly turning around he fumbled under his bed and pulled out one of the protein bars he had been living off for the past few weeks. Checking the wrapper to make sure it didn't contain anything he wasn't supposed to have, he greedily tore it off and wolfed it down in three bites. Gulping down the Aspirin tablets he chased them with the contents of a gym bottle suddenly thrust into his hand, chugging half of it down in one guzzle before slumping onto the bed with a satisfied exhale of breath.

Looking up he saw that everyone was watching him quietly with rather tense looks. Even Weiss had her hands akimbo, impatiently waiting for his explanation.

* * *

"Right...about what's going on..." he grinned sheepishly. _Ohhhh this feels nice... _He thought sitting on the bed, the mattress practically calling to him with a siren song of soft pillows and blankets that he forced himself to ignore. He probably wouldn't have been able to fall asleep with this migraine anyway. Clasping his hands together he looked back up at his friends and began his explanation.

For the second time in the day Jaune was making a confession. Where the first had been something of a release this bore more of the hallmarks of an interrogation. Continuing to nurse the gym bottle he started from the beginning, telling them all about his fears, how he had been spending numerous hours in the library trying to keep up with his work, how he had been drinking the energy drinks to keep going and how he hadn't been able to sleep properly since the finals announcement.

"Is it because of the nightmares Jaune?" Pyrrha asked pointedly from across the room, the crowd around him parting to let her see past.

Jaune jerked up his face reddening. "Nightmares? You knew about those?" he asked nervously.

"They weren't hard to miss..." she responded quietly. "I first noticed you having them last week. You talk pretty loudly in your sleep when they're happening. Y-you move around a lot too...they sounded horrible...you kept moaning something about a legacy..." Pyrrha's face suddenly became red and she looked away.

No more capable of meeting her gaze than she his Jaune looked down as well. "Yeah, they were pretty bad..." the memory of that twisted shadow copy of Pyrrha running him through with her spear came roaring back to the surface of his thoughts but he pushed it away. _That was only a dream dammit..._

He was silent for a moment before Ren prompted him to continue. "What about today Jaune? Goodwitch seemed pretty concerned about you to schedule an emergency physical like that on the spot. Did you get one? When we checked at the infirmary on campus after Goodwitch's class they said they hadn't seen you at all."

Jaune reddened slightly at the observation. He had completely forgotten how long he had taken between his nap and the talk with his oldest sister. They must have gone straight to the infirmary after class to check on him.

"I guess I made a bit of a detour..." he replied sheepishly.

"And shut off your scroll as well..." Blake added evenly.

Jaune closed his eyes at the mild rebuke but held his ground. "Yeah, I still don't know how that happened. I swear I didn't shut it off intentionally guys, it must have gotten jostled in my bag or something."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and massaged his temples, the minor relief of getting off his feet giving way to the ongoing ache running through his body. _Why doesn't this stuff kick in faster?_ He took another deep breath and continued.

"When I left the sparring Arena... well I wasn't in any right state of mind to be honest. I practically had a meltdown at the fountain at the center of campus before I just...took off running. I don't know why I did it but I ended up in the memorial gardens, near the red Maples. I kind of...passed out or something. I just sat down and next thing I knew I woke up and an hour or so had passed." His voice dropped as he continued. "I...I had another nightmare...a bad one...even more intense than the others..."

He wrung his hands together, continuing to look down as he deliberately avoided everyone's gaze. Even just the memory of the dream reminded him of its intensity and he almost reached again to feel for his chest before catching himself and clasping his hands again. As much as he felt they deserved his complete honestly he just couldn't dare tell him about the dream. It was just too insane and horrible to describe...especially with Pyrrha mere yards away.

He looked up with a slightly paler complexion and went on.

"When I woke up I headed over to the comm tower to call my oldest sister. We're really close, practically a second mom. I guess I just needed to talk to her, to get some advice..."

At the mention of his sister, his explanation got interrupted with a barrage of questions. Juane hadn't realized how little he had talked about his family, save that he had a bunch of sisters, and now everyone had found out he had a favorite. The explanation of his menagerie of sisters took another 10 boisterous minutes, a welcome distraction from the more intense memories he was wrestling with.

The hubbub had died down a bit as Pyrrha brought things back on course. "Did she give you any advice Jaune?"

"Sort of, but not really, no, before I managed to really get to talk to her, she had to disconnect. Some medical emergency on her end. I guess we both got ourselves sidetracked..."

"By what?" Pyrrha asked.

"Mainly there are aspects to my family that I hadn't known before, and now wish I didn't..."

"Liiiiiiike...?" now it was Nora's turn to ask her signature blunt questions. She was gazing at him with eager curious eyes.

"Yeah Vomit-Boy, what'd she say? Going to tell us that your family shares your airsickness problem?" Yang asked with a chuckle and her characteristic wolf-grin.

He hesitated again. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to reveal about something like this. But it was related to his problems and he had to start building trust back somehow. Taking a long sip of water and attempting to put aside the continued throbbing of his head he started to talk about family history.

* * *

He explained about the argument she had had with their parents. About the disagreement over her career, and the bombshell that was the attempted arranged marriage to a Schnee family cousin.

If the previous declaration about his favorite eldest sister caused an inquisitive commotion, this was more like a bomb had gone off. There was a moment of shocked silence and then everyone from Yang to Blake were talking and shouting at once. Even Ren looked a bit bemused by the whole thing. Weiss was the only one who tried to refrain from the verbal melee, but was pulled into it by Yang trying to figure out which one of her relatives was going to be involved in the marriage and whether she knew about it.

"Weiss, you're telling me Schnees get...I dunno farmed off like that?!" she asked in genuine shock. "What is this the dark ages or something!?"

"It's not like I condone it either!" Weiss snapped back furiously. "I'd probably do the same thing Jaune's sister did if I was forced into one!" She reddened and crossed her arms angrily, it was obvious this was a topic she was not comfortable speaking about. Locking eyes with her for a moment Jaune could somehow sense that she was inwardly terrified of the prospect, that she had known that it was an..."accepted" practice with some older members of the Schnee family, particularly if it led to cementing some lucrative business deal, but the thought of, as Yang had so bluntly put it earlier, being just handed off to someone she didn't know to satisfy some contract obviously sickened her.

Rallying himself Jaune intervened into the conversation to again bring it back on track. "Guys! Don't worry, it sounded like that was a while ago and the marriage certainly isn't happening. Like I said, when my parents tried to set this up, they had an argument with my sister and she moved to Vacuo and has been living there ever since. We pretty much only see her on Dustmas holidays now...I hadn't known why she moved out all of a sudden, but...well...now I know..." his voice trailed off as he finished sadly.

The tonal shift had silenced the room for a moment. "Anyway, her telling me all that kind of ruined any opportunity for sisterly advice, at least for the moment. She did say she's going to be visiting Beacon this Friday to catch up with me so you'll all get to meet her at least!" he tried to sound happy about the announcement but looked more worried than he would have preferred to let on.

The whole group murmured with excitement. They were going to meet a member of Jaune's family, the famous Arcs! A prospect they certainly found interesting.

"So anyway, with my sister coming this Friday, I decided to head to the hospital then to get that physical and see if I could participate in the sparring match. I didn't want to have to explain to her...well...I just didn't want her to see me sidelined like this..."

"That's only four days from now Jaune! Isn't that dangerous with you being like this? I don't know if you'll be ready in such a short amount of time."

To Jaune's surprise it was Ruby who was expressing her concern for him. He had honestly expected that from Pyrrha or someone else...but not her. She always seemed so carefree around them, he never knew her to have a nurturing side.

"Well, this _is_ a full combat sparring match, and worth 20% of our grade in Goodwitch's class. I'm already having a hard enough time as it is with her anyway..." he looked around at skeptical faces who weren't buying it. He hung his head. "...aaaand I'd rather not have to explain to my sister that I'm not able to even participate in a sparring test when she shows up on Friday ok?"

"That's all well and good, but did you manage to actually get a physical Jaune?" Ren inquired again. "Goodwitch sounded pretty serious that she won't let you participate if you don't get a clearance from the infirmary."

"Well that's the thing, I did manage to get a physical despite everything going on over there. I got cleared for Friday but-" he looked nervously at everyone again.

"-There's a catch I take it?" Ren inquired evenly.

Jaune closed his eyes and nodded. "It's a conditional clearance. I have to basically quit those Grimmjaws cold turkey and clean out my system. Apparently I've been drinking them so much that...well...ok this is probably going to be easier if I show you..." he pulled out the folded results from the physical. Flipping through the pages he held up the page with his bloodwork "...according to the analysis, those energy drinks contain huge amounts of Dust, the nurse found two types of them, let me see here..."

"Evergreen and Grow?" Ren supplied helpfully.

Jaune looked up in surprise. "...how did you know?!"

"I've been analyzing these things and seeing what they're made of." He motioned over to his desk. A full chemistry set was spread out across it, vials and beakers scattered everywhere. "Weiss was actually instrumental in helping me isolate the dust particles dissolved in them."

Weiss blushed a little but nodded proudly. "Of course as a representative of the Schnee Dust Company I have to know about the various dust types we manufacture. It's only natural I be the one in this group to know about dust and how to safely handle it." She glared at Ruby.

"You're _still_ not going to let me forget blowing up all over you on that first day we met are you...?" Ruby was still defensive about that awkward first meeting.

"Damn right I'm not! That was a whole vial of dust you destroyed! It could have caused a-"

"-Anyway..." Ren interrupted smoothly. "...we found and isolated those two types of dust in those drinks." he handed over two vials to Jaune with a violently bright shade of green liquid in them. At the bottom of each was a collection of tiny misshapen crystals. Jaune exchanged his physical paperwork with Ren who immediately started looking through it.

"Wow these things look weird. This is what dust crystals look like? I'd have thought they'd be smaller than this..." He couldn't help but stare at the vials in some twisted sense of morbid curiosity. _These were what I was drinking? But I didn't feel them..._

_"_Of course they're not that big you dolt! Those are concentrates; we isolated several drinks worth of dust particles so we could see what type and quality of dust they used!" Jaune looked up with some surprise. He knew Weiss was smart but she normally didn't...flaunt it this aggressively.

"In any case these little things aren't even using proper dust. They're using the equivalent of shavings from the shop floor. It's basically waste dust. Highly unstable and pretty much unusable. With more time I can figure out which processing plant was responsible for this, and then the _real_ fun begins..." Weiss grinned evilly.

"...the...real fun?" Jaune didn't like the idea of what Weiss thought of as 'real fun', especially with a grin fit to eat some poor defenseless woodland creature.

"Oh Jaune, you've seen Atlas soldiers, you've seen hunters, but all of that _pales_ in comparison to a pack of Schnee family lawyers. We're going to find this company and make them wish they stuck to just making bottled water...wait no, we make that too...well let's just say they're going to have a very, very, _very_ bad day!" Her grin widened even further as she pumped a fist in the air triumphantly.

The whole group paused for a moment to take in this newly energetic and murderriffic version of Weiss, silently deciding right then and there to never, ever get on the Schnee's shit list. At a minimum it sounded horribly expensive.

"...more importantly..." she continued, in an instant back to her normal even composure. "...where did you get these drinks anyway? If my family is going to send this company to the poor house we need to see who's selling them and..."encourage" them to rethink their business arrangements."

Jaune stiffened. _Oh shit...how am I going to get around this one...?_ He quickly glanced over at Yang who was doing a phenomenal attempt of trying to make herself invisible behind her tiny sister Ruby. He didn't want to get her involved if he could help it, she had been only trying to help, but he had to come up with something fast.

"I...bought them off some guy several weeks ago when we last had our trip to Vale. He had one of those, free-sample kiosks that you see at the farmer's market sometimes? They pretty much just pop up and disappear with each day. At the time, they tasted pretty good and I figured I'd keep them around for the occasional late night study session. I never intended to end up depending on them so much..." He tried to keep his voice and face as neutral as possible while staring directly at Weiss. He hoped it was convincing enough.

"Ugh! We'll never find that vendor now. He could be anywhere." She crossed her arms again in frustration.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jaune saw Yang visibly exhale and flash him a thumbs up from behind Ruby.

"...well I'm sure we'll find his supplier soon enough, enough money in the right hands and people talk just fine." Weiss turned towards Ren who was still sitting there silently reading the physical report. His eyes were wide as his eyes scanned over the page in front of him. "What about it Ren, anything we should know?"

He looked up with an uncharacteristically surprised expression on his face. "Jaune...how are you still alive?"

* * *

The room stopped at the seemingly ridiculous question. Jaune shifted uncomfortably on his bed. He was quickly realizing that Ren knew a lot more about dust than he had ever let on during their time here at Beacon. He was having pretty much was having the same reaction Marcus had, only even more worried.

"What are you talking about Ren?" Weiss huffed impatiently. "What do you-" By way of answer Ren simply handed up the packet of paper and pointed to a spot on the page. Weiss traced down the page before doing an impressive facsimile of Ren's expression and turning back to Jaune with a scream "What the _hell_ Jaune!?"

There was a mad scramble from everyone else as they all tried to crowd around the paper to see what had unsettled two of their normally unflappable teammates. Based on everyone's reactions he was getting a pretty good picture of the rest of his teammate's knowledge of dust.

Ren and Weiss continued to stare at him in what had to be shock while Pyrrha looked downright terrified. Everyone else seemed more confused as they tried to follow along, though still visibly worried by their cohort's reactions.

"Okay, time out!" Yang finally spoke. "Would you brainiacs care to fill us in on what's so scary about this report? And keep the words small please!"

Ren hesitated before continuing. "That paper contains analysis of Jaune's blood. It's part of the standard test that maps how much dust is dissolved in our bloodstream. You've all had it as part of your physicals at the beginning of the year. Jaune has Evergreen and Grow dust in his blood at levels that normally should have...killed him..." He glanced back down at the number before looking back at Jaune with a mix of accusation and awe, "...twice."

The room went quiet again, the rest joining in to gawk at Jaune with mixed shock and wonder.

"Uh, yeah...that's basically what the nurse found...heh...Surprise? I mean it's probably just a faulty reading, right?" He hadn't expected Ren to blurt it out like that and the way he summed it up was even scarier than Marcus had.

"And he cleared you for the sparring exam on Friday!?" Weiss yelled in disbelief. "Dust refining workers back in the old days didn't even have dust levels that high! You should be in a hospital getting treatment! Why didn't they do anything for you?!"

Jaune quickly explained Marcus' reasoning for not starting any direct therapy and what he recommended to do as an alternative. Weiss was not impressed.

"So his answer to lethal levels of dust in your blood is to just eat healthy and drink plenty of water? What kind of dolts do they let work in that infirmary!?"

"Are-_are_ you going to die Jaune? You're going to be ok right?" Ruby's tiny voice seemed to cut through the furor despite its whisper-quiet volume. Tears were forming at the edge of her eyes.

"Woah! Hey now! I'm going to be fine! Honest! I'm not dead yet am I?" He reached up from his bed and patted her gently on her shoulder. She smiled with her usual perkyness but still looked worried. He gave her a brave look before turning to the others.

"Look guys, I thought it was weird too ok? But the nurse who helped me is the real deal. I got to see him working on his patients and he knows his stuff, his team seems to think so at least."

The last part tumbling out of him before he knew it and he looked down embarrassed. He wasn't sure how to broach the next part but Ren did it for him.

"I admit for levels of dust that high, that treatment is highly unorthodox. My family has experience with treating dust sickness with natural remedies, but, as I said, I've never dealt with a case like this. What, _exactly_, did he say to do?"

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief and went through the full details of what Marcus had advised him to do.

"Yes...that is very similar to what my family has done in the past. Very smart move regarding the fiber and vegetables, those will help greatly in cleansing your system." To everyone's surprise he then turned to Nora instead of Weiss.

"What do you think Nora? Think he can handle the 'Soul Cleanser'?" he replied with an oddly wicked grin.

"Awww Ren, he's going to stink like Ursa Poop! Buuuuut..." she looked at Jaune and grinned. "It's definitely going to make you feel better Jaune! It worked for me!"

"Do I...want to know what a 'Soul Cleanser' is?" Jaune asked. Ren grinning like that was not something he was comfortable with.

"It's a meal replacement tonic that's been in my family for generations. We use it all the time to deal with poisonings and other ailments. Depending on how you make it, it can treat different things." He fixed Jaune with a stern look. "I will warn you however that it will not be pleasant. There is a reason it's called the Soul Cleanser, and it's not very pretty."

"Better stock up on buckets and toilet paper!" Nora added giggling merrily and doing a hyper little dance.

* * *

Exhausted, Jaune sat back to let the rest of the gang discuss the cleansing and recovery regimen he would be undergoing in the coming few days. Pyrrha, meanwhile, had resumed silently sitting on her bed. While she outwardly projected a neutral if somewhat tense expression, her mind was a maelstrom of competing emotions.

She couldn't decide what to think. In a single day she had experienced a whole spectrum of feelings, many of which she had no idea how to deal with. She had shared that quiet moment together with Jaune in the library, only to have him vanish without a trace after that bizarre aura exercise in Goodwitch's class. She remembered how worried...no, terrified, it made her and she couldn't figure out why. Then he just showed back up out of the blue and she went to pieces to see that he was safe and unharmed. And now this latest revelation about how he should be dead from a dust overdose, how those drinks had nearly stopped his heart. The shocked and worried expressions from Ren and Weiss were proof of how close he had come to the Reaper's embrace.

Why was she having these feelings now?! Jaune was a teammate, ok, a team leader, but still just a teammate, right? They were used for sparring practice or matches and then you shook hands on a good match and parted ways never to see each other again except in another tournament. And then they usually were your opponent. An enemy. And enemies had only one purpose and that was to be defeated. That was it. You went back to training, you went back to practice, and the only memory that you carried of them was if they had some unusual or effective combat technique that you either prepared for or worked into your training regimen. It was simple, effective and had worked out just fine for her.

_It's also extremely lonely..._

She remembered that talk she had with Jaune the night before the dance. She couldn't lie to herself now, just like she couldn't lie to him then how incredibly isolating that lifestyle was. The endless practices, matches, dieting, prepping for photo shoots for Pumpkin Pete's Cereal or some fashion magazine she would never read, being forced to attend social events and parties that she had no real interest in going to. And then paired with one of several "suitors" picked by her family for her. All of whom wanted nothing more than simply to use her fame to springboard their careers or...something less noble...

And now she was at Beacon. She expected nothing more than to train hard for several years and leave to become a Huntress. That was her goal, that had always been her goal? She had known nothing else. And then this bumbling goofball of a Knight had literally fallen into her world and thrown it completely upside down. Without even realizing it, despite his awkwardness, despite his initial attempts to go after Weiss, despite his laughable attempts at combat, she had opened her heart to him.

What had done it? She tried to recall what it was that first drew her to him...He had always been courteous and friendly to her, but no more than others, though never with the overly formal or intimidated attitude that marked most of her initial encounters with new people. He treated her like a regular person, like just another student in this massive academy without any special regard for the reputation that preceded her. She couldn't recall when was the last time she met someone so unaffected by her reputation. People always spoke to her legacy first and to her second. But not Jaune. He simply tried to be the best teammate and...friend he could possibly be. And he never stopped trying. For her. For the team. She saw it in the endless sparring sessions that they shared. She saw it in how he always tried to make sure that Nora had enough pancakes, or to direct them better in battle...or to wear that silly dress to cheer her up at the dance...

She smiled uncontrollably. She couldn't help it, the fact that he would do something so outlandish, so absurd without a second thought to his own dignity just to make sure she was ok was...wonderful. Truly wonderful. The memory seemed to blossom from within her like warm glow. She hadn't experienced such selfless generosity since leaving home and being away from her parents, and even they had different ideas of what "selflessness" meant to them. For them it was making sure she had top-notch training gear and weapons. Emotional support was something that played second fiddle to training regimens and combat gear in the Nikos household.

And then it all clicked. That was it. That was basically what was causing this whole situation. She knew then, without even really speaking with him this whole evening that he would not stop giving his all, he would not stop helping them. He would run himself ragged, he would kill himself in the effort to become a better leader for them, to be a better warrior for her and to be something worthy of his family's "legacy".

That explained the nightmares, that explained his efforts to push himself harder and further than he should have to the point he had almost, perhaps should have, died from it. Even now, past his pained winces, she saw the resolve in his face. The fact that those energy drinks and his late nights had nearly killed him, he was more concerned with the effect the revelation had on his friends than the reality it meant for himself. All she could see was a wounded knight who wanted to keep fighting, determined not to be seen to fail his team or his family.

But all that desire and drive meant nothing if he didn't live to see the results. He needed to slow down, keep things in control without going too far. She had no doubts now that he would stop at nothing for any of them, not just his teammates but team RWBY as well. But someone had to be there to help temper that fiery blade.

"..._that's what teammates are for dear..."_

Iris's words rang true more than ever now. She knew now what she had to do, as a teammate, as a friend, and even as a...yes...someday perhaps, as a lover. She had decided that she could not deny the feelings she had for him any longer. But before she could act up on them, she had to make sure that Jaune understood the severity of what he had done. This was a time for tough love, and she had to be the one to dispense it.

* * *

Standing up from her bed, she strode across the room to join everyone gathered around Jaune's bed where he was being barraged with the finer points of what Ren exactly had in store for him. Good. Ren would take care of the medical part, but Pyrrha knew that was only part of the equation. She was almost to his side when Jaune noticed her approach and seemed to brace himself. He didn't really flinch, but she could tell he was expecting another explosion like she had earlier. The others, now quietly looking between the two of them, seemed to be expecting the same thing. Brushing hair out of her eyes she smiled and fixed him with a steady look.

"So Jaune, my understanding of this regimen is that in addition to the changes in your diet, the nurse wanted you to keep exercising as much possible right?"

"Uh...yeah. He said it would help...uh…sweat it out I guess..." he grinned nervously.

"Good!" she replied cheerfully. "Then your regimen beings tomorrow at 6am with a nice solid jog followed by some calisthenics of my choosing. We only have four days before that match so we're going to have to cram as much as we safely can to get you back up to scratch. We'll figure out the rest of the days as we finalize our schedules, but for the next four days you will do _exactly_ as Ren, Nora and Myself say, got it?"

She spoke with an authority that no one had heard from her before, and no one dared question. Finished she loomed over Jaune sitting his bed. Just as she had predicted, he didn't protest, he didn't argue with her or try to override her sudden assumption of his authority. His face just took on a grimmer, more determined expression as he nodded.

"Understood Pyrrha." He then softened and looked at Nora and Ren, then everyone else. A tired sad smile grew across his face. "Thank you guys so much. I promise I won't let you down. I would rather d-" he caught himself before he said it further, but the implication got through loud and clear. "-er...dance in that dress again...in front of a Giant Ursa...than fail you. You have my promise as an Arc and as your teammate."

A ripple of chuckles ran through the group. The mental image lightened the mood considerably.

"Jaune...there's one more thing. It's very important that I tell you this."

"What is it Pyrrha?" he said eagerly.

She fidgeted a little. This was going to be the tough part, so much hinged on how he would respond to this next requirement, she almost didn't want to go through with it. How far could she push him?

"Jaune...I need you to understand that your behavior over the last couple of weeks has been both very upsetting both to the team and to me personally. You are a team leader, but that doesn't mean the burdens of the team fall exclusively on yourself. Part of being on a team means you share the responsibility of getting things done. And right now, we need to take some of that responsibility off of your shoulders."

"W-what are you saying Pyrrha?..." Jaune was looking confusedly at her.

"You almost died today Jaune." she continued. "You try so hard at everything for us, but you're neglecting yourself in the process. I can't have that, we can't have that. I know over the next couple of days you're going to try your hardest to get ready for that sparring exam, but we can't have a repeat of what happened these past few weeks."

She took a deep breath. _Here we go... _she thought. "So here's what I propose. We'll do our best as a team to get you back up and running for that match on Friday. We'll do everything we can in our power to support you won't we? Ren? Nora?"

They both nodded.

"However, if, by the evening of the night before the match, Ren, Nora and myself all agree that you're not ready to participate in that Sparring exam...you will contact Professor Goodwitch and request to complete an alternative for the sparring exam as she originally proposed today."

Jaune's silent gape was repeated by team RWBY. Ren looked thoughtful but nodded. Nora just giggled. The room went deathly still as everyone waited for what had to be an epic ensuing argument over who was in charge...

Jaune closed his mouth and looked slightly down. His eyes seemed to be looking beyond everyone in this room as he searched for a reply for Pyrrha's bold proclamation.

"What do you think Jaune...can you please trust us? Can you put your faith in your team once again?" Her voice almost cracked mid-plea, her earlier authoritative tone having left her as quickly as it had arrived. She was so worried. Had she pushed him too far? She might as well have just said that Jaune wasn't their leader anymore, but how else could she get it through to him that he needed help? Now _she_ was bracing for the explosion that was sure to come, for the furious rejection, a rant condemning her for even daring to take over like that.

The whole room held its collective breath and then, after a moment, Jaune looked up. When she looked into his eyes she knew. That quiet resolve and determination was there. No anger, no sadness, no self-pity. The bright blue peeking out past bloodshot red to meet her own said far more than words ever could as he nodded seriously.

"Agreed. I've neglected you all too much. I need your help on this one guys, and I'm the luckiest team leader in the world to be able to count on you all like this." He quickly blinked away a few small tears that had been forming on the edge of his eyes. "You're the best you know that?" his smile seemed to melt Pyrrha's insides as he looked back at her.

"Awwww that is so adorable!" Yang suddenly exclaimed breaking the touching moment. "Alright Pyrrha! As leader of the recovery effort, your first order of business is to get vomit-boy into a shower and some clean clothes cuz man does he stink!"

Everyone burst out laughing. It was too much. The tension of the past few minutes disappearing with Yang's perfectly timed wisecrack. They all laughed for several minutes before finally they managed to collect themselves.

Still giggling, Pyrrha did indeed order Jaune to the showers, to which Jaune was only too happy to comply. Grabbing a fresh set of boxers and a nightshirt, he headed to the washroom, cranking the water up as hot as it would go.

He moaned with palpable pleasure at the feeling. The hot water lessened the pressure of his migraine and seemed to slough off the sweat and stress this day had piled on him. He zoned out for a blissful five minutes before he actually started scrubbing himself and washing his hair.

Finishing the shower and brushing his teeth he changed into clean nightclothes, depositing the absolutely filthy clothes from today in the hamper by the door. He wondered if he might better have dropped them in the trash, if he'd ever get them clean again as not only did they reek but they seemed to radiate with the stress he'd been under.

Stepping out into the dorm bed area again he found things calmer, team RWBY having already left. Ren was still looking over Jaune's physical notes and jotting something down on a pad. Nora quickly zipped by Jaune to begin her own bathroom ritual, and Pyrrha was next to Ren looking over the crate of Grimmjaws.

"Finished analyzing them Ren?" Jaune asked tiredly. He wanted to go to bed so badly. The shower and the aspirin had dulled the migraine and relaxed his muscles to the point he thought he might actually get a good night's sleep for the first time in weeks.

"Yes, at least with what I have here. I'm doing a few more tests and then I'll have to move to the lab on campus. But for the most part I think I've found what I need. I should be able to formulate my Soul Cleanser tonic to deal with your dust buildup." He stretched. "For now though, I think it's a good idea we all get to bed. Nora and I will have to get up early to go to the farmer's market tomorrow anyway."

"Why?" Jaune asked curiously.

"I need to buy the ingredients for the cleanser. Like I said before, it's a natural tonic. We use a combination of various herbs, fungi, fruit and vegetables to make it. I have a few things in my private stash but some of the more exotic stuff I need to buy."

Jaune reached for his wallet on his nightstand. "Wait! I can't have you guys spend that much money on me, let me help-" but Ren raised his hand.

"Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal cost-wise, they're very simple ingredients and honestly the challenge of your treatment intrigues me. I've never made it for such a severe level of Dust Poisoning before, and I am...curious how the results will come out."

"Ren is right Jaune. You need to get to bed. We have a big day tomorrow, we're going to make you sweat like you've never experienced before!" Pyrrha grinned wickedly. "And, we're going to get rid of these damn things!" She hefted the wooden crate of the remaining Grimmjaws.

"Wait!" Jaune placed a hand on the crate stopping her from chucking them down the garbage chute.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha looked at him with some concern.

"My nurse, I mean, Marcus from the infirmary. When he was treating me he said he had never heard of these before. If these things are as dangerous as you guys say they are we should make sure to get him some samples so he knows what to expect. He seemed to know a lot about dust, and if there are more of these floating out there...well he should at least have some kind of treatment ready if someone else pulls a...me." He looked at Ren. "He was as shocked as you were Ren when he saw my bloodwork. He honestly thought I was pouring vials of dust down my throat."

Pyrrha smiled broadly at Jaune. _Always helping anyone he can..._ "That's a great idea. What do you think? Five or six bottles should be enough for him you think?"

"I'd just give him the whole crate of them Pyrrha." Ren said simply. "Based on what I've found so far in those things, I'd be very uncomfortable with any of those bottles springing a leak in the trash."

Vividly recalling the warped trashcan she dealt with earlier she nodded. "Good point. Ok, I'll make sure to drop this off to him tomorrow morning. Now YOU! Bed!" She poked her finger playfully in Jaune's chest.

"Yes ma'am!" Jaune replied with a tired grin. He shuffled off to bed and laid down with another pleasant sigh. The mattress, blankets and pillows seemed to welcome him like a long lost friend. The day was finally over. He was going to get through this. His team still had his back and would help him get better. He knew the next few days would be tough, but the thought of his team being there to help him was enough to temporarily drive any worries from his mind.

_Maybe tonight I'll have a peaceful night's sleep for once..._

He was almost right.


	8. Chapter 8 -Hello Nightmare my old Friend

**Bit of a shorter chapter this time folks. Lets take a trip inside Jaune's head for a bit shall we? As always, thank you all for the feedback and the favorites. **

_The world of shadow was waiting for him once again. But it was different now, sharper, more defined. He smelled things. Old leather. Musty paper. Seasoned Oak. Mistralian pipe tobacco__. A roaring fire crackling in his ears. He was in a room...the painful level of detail coalescing until...he knew this room. It was...his father's study. Shelves of old leather bound books lined the walls. The fire billowed in a towering fireplace that took up an entire wall. Oil put to canvas by a master painter to depict a proud soldier bearing a...his sword, Jaune noticed and just as he recognized his family heirloom, so too did he have a sense of familiarity to the painting. He had seen it before, but...where had he seen it?_

_He hesitantly walked forward. He wasn't supposed to be here. This room had always been the sole domain of his father. He researched here, had guests here...he brooded here...spent hours just looking out onto the massive front yard, __down the winding path__ that led to the house. __So many times had Jaune looked up to see his father's silhouette looming in the great bay window. __So many memories. So many winter mornings playing out in the front yard with his mother and sisters...yet never his father. Always looking out at them, aloof, apart, never joining the rest of the family in their activities. __The lord of the house and all he surveyed and yet seemingly trapped, as if this study was his prison._

_Putting aside the memories of the past Jaune tried to think what was going on, why was here? He was home, he had wanted to be home, but not like this, not in this room. Anywhere but this forbidden room. He turned to leave. Have to leave before he sees... Only...there was no door. How had he come in if there was no door?__ His heartbeat quickening he looked around for an exit. Instead he found himself facing two high backed chairs. Standing before the fireplace they cast long, flickering shadows across the room. Facing away from him, he couldn't see anyone seated there. __But with each passing moment he was even more certain that there definitely was someone there. He could feel the presence before he heard the restrained, yet commanding voice slice through the room._

_"Welcome Boy...it is time we talked." Stepping from behind one of the great chairs rose the shadowy nightmare of Charlemagne Arc. __Though smaller than the massive giant from his prior dream, the man's presence easily filled the room. Unchanged from his last nightmare were the eyes, the same burning red eyes were there, staring through him with intensity to make Ozpin himself flinch._

_He felt the familiar sense of metal bands tightening against his chest but only barely. __This was different than before. The voice was everywhere but he could breathe and it didn't assault him like a weapon like the last time. Slowly the echoes softened and he realized that it was waiting for a response. This thing...wanted to talk? Why now? What was this?_

_"What...what are you? Who...w-what do you...?"_

_"Do not stutter boy. It does not befit your heritage. Now sit!" The shadow flared with irritation and grew slightly in size as it jerked a shadowy finger at the high backed chair across from it. _

_Jaune gulped, his world narrowed as he saw no other option__. He was trapped here in this room. With this...thing. He comforted himself that it hadn't attacked him this time...maybe it really did want to just talk? He sat down in the chair, the old leather creaked with his weight. _

_As he sat down, he could see his ghostly answer up close for the first time. The figure's shadowy form billowed, details sliding in and out of focus. An ornate battle-dress uniform. Armor plates covered the figure almost identically to the set he wore, only simpler, more primitive. Countless medals and ribbons bedecked the breastplate, shimmering and glinting of their own accord, reforming themselves into different icons and colors as he tried to make sense of all of them._

_The figure regally sat down on the chair like a lord, back erect, head up, and hands steepled together. For several long moments it said nothing. It simply considered Jaune with those bright, burning eyes. Against the backdrop of its darkness their intensity was like staring into twin suns, nearly blinding him with their radiance._

* * *

_Now then...what are we to do with you...?" the shadow spoke, the barest trace of a taunting smirk making Jaune shrink in his chair__._

_"Here you sit, the only male born of your generation, the latest in a venerated line, bearer of my blood and my name. You should be the subject of the next great chapter in the book that is my family's legacy...and yet as I look upon you I see you are shaping up to be, at best, a footnote, possibly even an ignoble end if you prove incapable of siring a more worthy successor"_

_Clinical in its cruelty the voice was not loud, more reflective than anything else, but the harsh words still reverberated through Jaune's head like a Bullhead gunship. He shifted uncomfortably attempting once again to focus on the figure in front of him, the shadowy figure continuing to morph and slide out of focus the more he tried to concentrate upon its words._

_"What do you mean? How am I not doing enough? I made it to Beacon, I'm the leader of my own team. What else do you want?" While technically all true the way he avoided mentioning his school troubles made the boast sound hollow and feeble, even by his own standards._

_"Accomplishments built on a foundation of lies and deception." It responded with a snort while shaking its head... tendrils of smoke trailing its movements like contrails in the air. "You have been coddled for too long, a consequence of being surrounded by coddling females perhaps, it matters not at this point. What matters now is how to correct it. You never developed the skills or the strength necessary to truly be worthy of that academy..." It paused then cocked its head in reflection. "Still... cunning and guile have their place in the world, and I will grant you have certainly employed them well enough."_

_Jaune reddened in embarrassment. Of course it would know about the falsified records he had used to get into Beacon. The recognition of Jaune's past deciept showed on his face and the shadow cracked a grin at Jaune's visible shame._

_"Come now, accept the compliment. P__ractically high praise coming from the likes of me. Without your deception you would not have amounted to anything, doomed to a life of ignominy and...irrelevance. Yet you seized an opportunity, changed the rules, and gave yourself one last chance to make your mark. That stubborn tenacity alone is admirable given everything else you lack."_

_Jaune tightened his fists. A burning anger seeped through him like smoke from a stirring dragon, a harbinger of white hot rage. "What...do I lack exactly?" he said through gritted teeth. _

_The shadow laughed heartily. The sound was as mocking as it was mirthful, each sharp bark making Jaune's skin crawl, a dead sound, devoid of warmth or humanity. "Oh you silly little boy are you serious...? Would you like the unabridged version or the executive summary?" __The shadow continued to shake its head at the obvious stupidity of the question. "If you have to ask, then you are worse than off than I thought..."_

_"That's not true!" he shouted back at the shadow. "I'm still at Beacon! Sure I may not be at the top of my class, but I'm still there, I haven't been expelled, I've fought actual Grimm-"_

_"-In the martial equivalent of not shooting off your own foot with a dust rifle." the shadow interrupted smoothly. __"Those are not accomplishments boy, they are merely results of luck and circumstance. While both are certainly a boon in battle they are not to be relied upon. They can be harsh and fickle mistresses, sooner to be arrayed against you the moment you most need them than supporting your efforts."_

_The figure pointed in accusation as it continued. "**You** need to realize your own potential. And soon. Your livelihood, your legacy, your very life depends on it."_

_"Why is this so urgent? Why now? I'm only in my first year, why should I be worrying about my legacy as just a freshman hunter?" Jaune asked plaintively. This made no sense, was the demon trying to help him? To warn him?_

_"It matters because you lack the necessary skills to be a proper leader." it replied simply. "No soldier will follow a commander who shows himself incapable of fighting alongside directing his troops. No platoon will follow a sergeant into the heat of battle if they have no faith in their ability to steer them through the chaos of battle."_

_"What do you mean? You're saying my team has lost faith in me?" Jaune leaned forward aggressively, the meaning behind the shadow's comments suddenly dawning on him._

_"Did they **ever** have faith in you boy? __I dare say you got along for awhile with them humoring you but now? You're in the midst of a full on mutiny and you're too stupid to notice. Hell, have they not already usurped your role as team leader?"_

_"That...that's not true, they just want to...make sure I'm ok is all..." The comment cut deep as Jaune both wondered at its truth, while shamefully reflecting that perhaps such a shift would be for the best. _

_"__Did they now? I know much has changed since my day, but am I to take it that it is now standard procedure for a team to take over decision making for their leader just to...'help'...him get through a rough patch?" The narrowed eyes flashed with a sarcasm that highlighted the rhetorical nature of the question._

_"You are a deluded fool. Your team has betrayed you. They have reduced you to nothing more than a figurehead without your realization."_

_Jaune's anger flared again, scorching the leather backed chair where he sat. "That's not true! They'd never do that! I've led them several times already! We've studied together, shared meals together, we've fought Grimm-!"_

_The shadow roared back just as angrily matching the fiery manifestation of Jaune's rage with large tendrils of black flame. "DO NOT SPEAK TO ME OF FIGHTING GRIMM!" It shouted, stabbing an accusatory finger at him. "You know nothing of war! Of leadership! Your team mates succeeded while you were carried along on the wave of their success. A remora to their shark." The figure rose, looming impossibly high above Jaune's still-seated position. _

_"We Arcs, WE are meant to be the sharks, teeth bared, rending whatever is in our path be it monster or man, the youngest grim or the eldest god, if they stand before us they are prey, and we the hunter. But you..." The disgust in its voice was palatable, a claw-like finger pointing into the depths of Jaune's soul. "You. Are. Nothing." __Each word was punctuated with an angry lance of shadow, the dark lightning arcing out from the creature's fingertip to hit Jaune like a kick to the chest._

_He gasped in pain. No. Not again. He felt the pressure build on his chest, and fought to suppress it. Warring for each constricted breath he angrily stared back at the shadow above him. _

_"So then...if you're so smart...what...should I do?" he gasped back. _

_As the final word passed his lips, the pressure lessened. Still gasping for air, he looked up to find the shadow changed once again. Its eyes were alight with malicious glee, it's mouth cracked wide in a fang-filled smile._

_"Ahhh...good. You've finally come to your senses." Reminiscent of the shark it had moments ago likened itself, it smiled even more broadly as the tendrils of shadow retreated back into its body . "It's quite simple. __You are already a failure as a leader. Stop denying it, or making excuses for it. Accept the folly of your actions and resolve correct this aberration." _

_"How am I already a failure? I've made some mistakes, sure, but just because my team is helping me recover doesn't mean-"_

_"-They are simply too polite to take your leadership from you by force." It interrupted again. "Some misguided sense of loyalty or honor, admirable if it was in any way deserved. It is only a matter of time, however; by the end of this week with your ultimate failure at this upcoming sparring exam, they will orchestrate your removal as a team leader. They will betray you, and you will have to come to terms with your new lot in life, whether with the same team or not. It is probably for the best, really...your team can only carry you so far..."_

_He shook his head. "This doesn't make sense...you invented the whole idea of hunter teams... you wrote the book on hunter-tactics!...the books describe you as having a team and working with them and winning battles...!"_

_"Do you mean this?" Jaune's borrowed copy of __**A History of the Arc Bloodline**__ materialized from thin air in its shadowy palm. "Yes, the history books always seem to spin things a certain way to fit the narrative don't they?"_

_The book burned to ashes before the crature grinned. "You need to brush up on your required reading my boy. I'd recommend reading the book a little more deeply to better understand what I truly was. I did not have teammates. I had Subordinates. Associates. Underlings. I created teams for the purpose of allowing weak fools like yourself the opportunity to cover for your failings in combat so that you would have a life expectancy of more than 10 seconds in battle against the Grimm."_

* * *

_It spat the last words out with disgust. "__If you want to be seen as anything but a failure,** you** must prove that you are worthy of their respect. Of their fear. **You** must win that match. And you must do so decisively and completely. Anything less is to encourage their further mutiny."_

_How? How can I do that?" Jaune asked desperately. "I haven't won a single match this whole year...and it's only in a few days!"_

_"My dear foolish boy..." It leaned forward to within inches of his face, its eyes suddenly flashing into acid green fire. "...you already have the key to victory running through your very veins! You need only to discover how to utilize it properly."_

_"I...I don't understand...what are you-?"_

_It hissed, its words coming swifter in irritation. "For once in your miserable existence, stop being so dense!" The shadow jabbed forward and plunged its claw into his torso. He screamed in horror before the shadow pulled back with a violent jerk. Trailing from his finger to the center of his stomach, is a long barbed chain covered in undulating green slime. _

_"Look at how much of it you have within you!" The shadow spoke with whispered reverence. "I don't believe there has ever been a living creature that has absorbed so much and yet lived!" _

_With a jab of its other claw, it pulled another chain from Jaune's heart. __This one was livelier, writhing as it dangled between them._

_"What! W-what is this!?" He screamed trying to pull himself away. __His efforts were for naught, however, as the chains held him bound to the nightmare's claws._

_"Like I said boy, this is the key to your victory. It is bonded to you more fully than you even realize. You have already tasted a portion of it's power, you only need to push just a bit further to-"_

_"NO!" Jaune He jerked himself free from the shadow's clutches, stumbling out of his chair and over towards the giant window on the opposite wall. The creature hissed angrily as the chains slipped from its grasp. "Are you insane? I nearly died because of this stuff! I have to get rid of it!" The chains were oily-slick and cold in between his fingers as he took hold and tried to yank them out of his body. The desperate effort caused him to double up in agony as a wave of agonizing fire seemed exploded within him._

_"You idiot! It is bonded to you! You would as well rip off an arm than to remove those gifts within your body. They are your victory! Do you not see that?" __The figure loomed over him once more,a great shape swelling through the room, its eyes had gone back to those red blazing pools of lava._

_"No! I'm not using this! This is wrong. It's...it's toxic! This stuff will kill me, I need to purge it...get it all out of me!"_

_"Then you have already failed!" __The creature roared, completely filling the room now with its dark presence. "You will fail the upcoming match. Your team will abandon you! You will lose everything. EVERYTHING, down to your worthless life!"_

_Still clutching the writhing chains in his hands Jaune pulled himself to his feet, momentarily standing his ground. "No...there is another way. I can't...I can't be dependent on this! It's not part of me!" Gritting his teeth and bracing himself, he pulled as hard as he could. His vision exploded in violent colors. Waves of pain assaulted every fiber of his being as slowly, agonizingly slowly, the chains began to separate. As the pain threatened to overwhelm something caught his attention outside of the window. There were people there...they were..._

_"Guys..." Distracted, he suddenly slackened his grip. The sinewy chains began to slither back, wrapping around his arms and body. Just outside the window stood his team. Pyrrha...Ren...Nora. They all stood there staring at him with empty eyes and vacant expressions. __Perhaps it was a distortion of the glass but...t__hey looked vaguely inhuman, mannequin-like in their stiffness... __He pressed himself against the window, his struggle against the chains forgotten as they silently continued to wrap themselves around him, their tight grip now almost tender, a seductive embrace to contrast the agony of his attempt at removal._

_Guys! What are you doing here!? What's going on!?" Beyond the window the figures made no indication of response, __simply continuing to stare blankly at him through the frosted glass._

_"It has begun boy..." The shadow proclaimed behind him. "...the era of your leadership is ending."_

_As if commanded, one by one, they stiffly turned around and began to walk down the path leading away from his house. Jaune pounded his fists against the glass, __desperate to get their attention __as they crossed the giant front lawn._

_"Guys! NO! Don't leave me! Where are you going! What is this!? Ren! Nora! PYRRHA!" __Screaming himself hoarse he began to beat his fists against the glass panes. The chains seemed to quiver and tighten around his arms, lending weight to his blows even as they tried to slow him down..._

_They did not seem to hear him. Slowly they continued to navigate their way along the winding path, backs turned to him as he continued to assault the window that stood between him and his team. They were leaving him. They were abandoning him. He could not stop it. No matter how hard he __beat his fists against the glass, it did not yield. Mad with panic he began to slam his head against the window in crazed hope that it would succeed where his fists had failed him. The chains were around his neck now... choking him, pulling him back into the room and preventing him from making clean contact with the glass._

_"Look how right I was boy...your refusal to accept those gifts has led to your__ end. Worry not for your friends, for if you look now you can see that they have already__ found a replacement..."_

_Stars in his eyes, Jaune's attention snapped away from the shadow, staring through the window once again. There, at the end of the path. The large gate that marked the end of their property. A shadowy figure stood waiting for them. As one they all seemed to raise their hands in greeting to the interloper. It wasn't him, it was someone else. Jaune cried out in despair, he should be there. That was HIS team! It was stealing his team! Its arms spread in a welcoming embrace and they vanished in a puff of smoke as they made contact with the it. For a moment the figure stood there, turned its head and cast its gaze back towards the house. Glowing eyes momentarily locked with Jaune's own across the yard. Jaune tried to stare it down, still fighting against the chains that pulled him deeper into the room. Straining he blinked, his eyes closed for but a moment but when he looked once more, it was gone, vanished along with his team._

_He tried to scream with anguish, but the sound was choked in his throat by the tightening jagged chain. His arms were almost completely bound now, yet he still tried to push forwards, to try one last time to break through the impassable glass. Why wouldn't this thing budge?! It was only glass, it couldn't be that strong! More and more chains spooled around him, pulling him away from the window. No! He had to save them! He had to be with them! Even now he felt them calling to him. He heard their voices! He looked around, the room dissolving as their voices grew louder..._

_"Jaune! Jaune! Please stop!" That was Pyrrha!, he thought. Where was she? It sounded like she was right next to him Why couldn't he reach out to her!? He had to break free!_

_"JAUNE! WAKE UP!" Nora this time, Closer...they were so close..._

_"JAUNE!"_

_The final chain wrapped around him, mummifying him within dripping metal and his world exploded in a flash of light and pain._


	9. Chapter 9 - Wake Up Wall

**Welcome back folks! As always thank you again for reading. Time to leave the world of nightmares and return to the real world, only it's not always as pleasant there either. **

**Also please be sure to check out my other quickfic I posted recently regarding Roman Torchwick. It's a quick little one off I had a really fun time writing. **

**Enjoy!**

Pyrrha awoke to the insistent beeping of her scroll alarm. Despite the abnormally early hour she hopped right out of bed, reaching over to silence the scroll without a trace of her usual grogginess. Glowing in the pre-dawn darkness the bright screen proudly reported the time: 5:00am. Since coming to beacon she had become accustomed to the school schedule but now, it was like old times back at home as she hopped out of bed, ready to exercise.

As she got dressed she reflected on all that she had gone through to earn entry to Beacon, and, to be totally truthful, she'd be up earlier than this in the final lead-up to a match. Today's workout would be nowhere near as bad as the 20 mile runs that her father insisted on her performing as a warmup before sparring practice. While she had to credit them in part for her nigh-infinite endurance she wasn't too torn up over not having to do those anymore she thought with a smile. Stretching to work the kinks out of her muscles she looked around the dorm room. To her surprise Nora and Ren's bed's were already empty, the two having apparently already left for the farmers market. Deciding to let Jaune have a final few minutes of rest she quickly showered and changed into her workout clothes before heading over to Jaune's bed to wake him up.

Approaching the bed she found him sprawled all over, practically hog-tied by a tangled combination of his pillow cases, blankets and what appeared to be the torn up remains of his bedsheets. Twitching all over and soaked in sweat he trembled slightly, displaying all the hallmarks of another nightmare in progress. Coming closer she noted his eyes snapping back and forth under his eyelids, his mouth twitching as he mumbled garbled words through a closed mouth.

Reaching down she shook him gently to try to wake him. Nothing. If anything he flinched away from her touch. The bare skin of his shoulder was feverish, burning to the touch and slick with sweat. She shook him harder but it did nothing but make his spasms worse. The jostling having somewhat freed him from the tangled sheets he was kicking and thrashing now. Trying to decide her next move it was by pure reflexive instinct that she jerked her hand back as his arm swung wildly, dodging the flailing blow.

What was this? None of his previous nightmares had been this bad. Granted, she had never observed this closely before, but she never saw one with this kind of intensity. She racked her brain, her eyes scanning the area around his bed to see if he had, perhaps taken another Grimmjaw , it certainly was possible given all the commotion that was going on that he might have squirreled one away but-

No. She shook her head. He wouldn't do that. He had just laid himself bare, revealing rather sensitive secrets about himself and his family to both their team and team RWBY. She remembered that determined gaze he had given her and how he had sworn in front of everyone he would do better and stop relying on those darn things. He wouldn't just turn around and go back on his word, would he?

_An Arc never goes back on his promise..._ She recalled his proclamation from that fateful night at the dance. No, he would not have snuck another one of them like that, especially not with everyone around in the room.

He was moaning continuously now, a tortured noise that halfway between shouting and screaming but strangled behind a mouth firmly lodged shut. She watched his eyeballs flit back and forth in their sockets, barely held back from escaping by his thin eyelids. His obvious stress was horrifying to watch but she wasn't even sure how to break him out of this. Wasn't there something about nightmares you had to be careful waking the person it was happening to? She honestly didn't know, sleeping techniques never really came up in her previous training sessions. Despite her misgivings she was about to forcibly shake him again when she was distracted by the click of their dorm room door. Turning from the disturbing rest of her friend she looked over to see Ren and Nora enter the room laden with bags of groceries and several giant glass jugs.

"Oh! Pyrrha, you're up! Great!" Ren said with a smile as he staggered towards the dorm's kitchenette. The canvas bags laden with fruits and vegetables slid off his lithe frame to hit the floor with a heavy thump as he exhaled and turned to face Pyrrah. "There's more out in the hallway, could you help get the rest? Nora's taking care of the containers we're going to store the finished tonic in."

Sure enough Nora was staggering in behind, somehow balancing a tower of giant glass bottles on her back. Pyrrha had to admit she was impressed at the girl's balance; Nora always struck her as somewhat of a klutz. A klutz who could quite easily cave in an Ursa's skull with one hit from her giant Magnhilde, but far from the most graceful member of their team. Yet here she was supporting the tottering bundle of bottles on her back and not one had-

"Uhm...heh...Pyrrha...little help please?" Nora grinned sheepishly, sweating under the load. The bottles began to shift and clink ominously as Nora tried to keep her balance, it becoming suddenly apparent that she didn't quite have a plan to offload the fragile containers. Reacting quickly Pyrrha ran over and started grabbing from the top, as quickly and gently as she could remove them from Nora's back. The stack shrunk doubly fast as Nora slowly sank to the floor, eventually plopping down on her rear and letting the last of the giant bottles smoothly roll off her back and onto the floor.

"Hehe! Armadillo style! Wasn't that cool Ren? Did you see how I managed that?" She grinned happily, the stress of carrying the bottles was instantly forgotten. Pyrrha chuckled and shook her head as she went out to the hallway where more sacks of Ren's haul from the market lay lined up next to their door. Looping the handles through both of her arms she hefted the load with ease, and sidestepped awkwardly through the door; the mass of bags too wide for her to pass through normally.

"Thank you Pyrrha, over here please." Ren stated, gesturing to an already sizable mound outside the kitchen. Winding her way past several still-rolling bottles Pyrrah managed to carefully place her load down by the others. Taking a moment to wipe her forehead she looked around at Ren's shopping spree.

"This is quite a lot Ren, do you really need so much? How are we even going to store all of this?" she asked, thinking of their tiny shared fridge. Even with how fast they, particularly Nora, tended to go through food, there was no way they'd be able to even make a dent in this much fresh produce before it started to spoil.

"No worries Pyrrha, this is all going into those glass bottles we brought in. Once I've juiced and processed everything it'll keep for months. Family recipe, remember?" He tapped his head with a small smile.

Raising one eyebrow as she glanced around she finally shrugged . "If you say so, do you need any help getting things ready? I was just about to wake Jaune up for our morning jog before you came in." She gestured over her shoulder towards his bed.

"That'd be great actually, we've got a lot of produce to go through, and with only one...blender..." He trailed off. His eyes widened as he looked past her, staring in horror at something beyond Pyrrha's shoulder.

She felt it before she turned around to see what was making her skin crawl. What was that...presence? It was similar to an aura, but foul and wrong, like a toxic cloud had floated in and was hovering in the room. Three pairs of eyes fell on Jaune's bed as he continued to spasm and thrash around his covers. Sheets tossed aside revealed a pale green haze covering his body like a shroud.

"What is that?" Pyrrha looked from Jaune's bed to Ren and Nora. "Ren, what's going on? I thought you had to be conscious to produce an aura..." Looking back at Jaune she was reminded of the sparring arena all over again. The hue of his aura, the creeping feeling running down her spine, it was exactly the same as when Jaune was trying to make that shield in front of Goodwitch but now even more intense. She hoped it was just due to proximity, but whatever was happening with her friend, it was wrong, horribly, horribly wrong.

"No...That shouldn't be possible. Activating an aura or producing a semblance requires full conscious thought. That can't be an aura but...I honestly don't know what it could be either. A side effect of all those Grimmjaws? I've never known dust to work like that but he had so much in his system..."

The idea of Ren not having an answer made Jaune's appearance even more unsettling but what currently drew Pyrrah's attention was what the final member of their team was currently going through. Backing away she was looking at Jaune with barely contained panic.

"Ren...R-ren...Ren..." Nora started to whimper. Falling back onto her bed and sliding up against the wall she clasped her hands to her ears. Her body stiff her feet searched for purchase on the sheets as she tried to push herself away from Jaune. Even as she trembled with fear she couldn't stop staring at him, the sight transfixing her as it terrified her to her core. White as paper she started rocking back and forth, her voice a hollow whisper.

"Ren...it feels bad. This really feels bad. Please...make it stop Ren. Make the bad thing stop..." Tears were leaking from her wide open eyes as she continued to rock faster and faster, eyes fixed on some unseen horror to which she bore sole witness.

"Shhhhh..." Ren cooed as he knelt down in front of her, clasping her head with his hands. "It's ok Nora. Look at me. Look in my eyes and focus only on my eyes ok? You are here with me and Pyrrha. You are in your dorm. You are safe with us now. Ok?" His voice was soft, comforting, radiating calm towards her, trying to settle her down with each quiet repetition of the mantra.

Turning back to the source of the whole disturbance Pyrrha decided she needed to snap Jaune out of whatever he was experiencing. Nightmare or not, that...thing he was producing had to be stopped. She had masked her reaction so far but privately she shivered, no less disturbed by what she was witnessing than the rest of her friends.

She was halfway to Jaune when the intensity of the green cloud increased, throbbing and pulsing with unknown energy. At the center of the miasma Jaune snapped up into a kneeling position on his bed facing the wall of the dorm. There was a pause, and then his back arched backwards violently, his joints cracking audibly with the sudden movement. In awkward, jerking sequence his arms snapped out to the sides like they were trying to escape in opposite directions. His hands dangled like a scarecrow, his head lolling back and forth as his body continued to rock and twitch with unnatural spasms.

"J-Jaune...Are you awake?" Pyrrha called out. This was getting really frightening now. Was he possessed? Drawing up to the bed she could see that his eyelids were still firmly shut, the eyeballs within spinning madly like angry boartusks.

With a sickening popping noise his joints settled back into place. Moving with all the grace of a marionette Jaune's body lurched forward, his arms flopping limply to his sides. His head slumped on his chest and hung completely still. A tense silence hung in the air as the rest of his team looked on, too shocked and confused to know what to do next. Once again, Jaune was the first to act. With another sickening pulse of his aura his head snapped up and he cocked both arms above his head, fist clenched like he was about throw a pair of javalins .

"Jaune! Wait, don't!-" Heedless of her words he smashed both of his fists into the wall before him with a loud *CRACK*. His head bouncing on his chest with the force of the impact he didn't even look up before repeating the blow, punching the wall again and again with a startling amount of force. The drywall started to dent and chip under the force of repeated blows as he displayed no signs of stopping or slowing his efforts.

"Jaune! JAUNE! Stop it!" Pyrrha was the first to move, diving onto his bed and grappling with him. She snaked both arms under his armpits and behind his head into a full nelson to try and stop the punching. For a moment it worked before he bucked, exhibiting a level of strength she had never seen him display before. Every time they had practiced grappling she had ended up overpowering him. This was different, his muscles and veins swelled, trying to break through his burning hot skin, and the nasty green aura burned her exposed skin, sapping her strength with each moment of contact. It was making her nauseous just to be this close but she marshaled her resolve, straining her grip to hold onto him.

Gagging a little she turned her head to the others. "REN! NORA! Help me! Please I can't hold him!"

Driving the point home, Jaune whipped his head back, her reflexes saving the blow to the face by the narrowest of margins. The flinch, however, caused her hands to loosen her hold on him. In that brief lapse of control, he shrugged her off, resuming his assault on the dorm wall. Before Ren and Nora could rush over, whatever force controlling him decided that punching the wall wasn't good enough. With a scream strangled through closed lips he smashed his head into the wall, leaving a massive divot where it had impacted.

Over and over he smashed his head and fists into the wall, the impacts first cracking and then breaking through to leave a trio of gaping holes in the gypsum board.

Coming to help Nora dived under Pyrrha to grab Jaune's torso, the two of them together barely enough to start pulling away from his bed, an effort made all the harder by the nausea induced by the toxic aura he was generating.

"Ren! Ren this is wrong! This feels really bad! Make it stop please! Make Jaune stop making the nightmare!" Nora yelled hysterically. She was frantic as she slowly pulled Juane back away from the wall. Despite the two strongest members of his team giving it their all Jaune was still fighting back. Mindlessly he attempted to lurch forward against their pull, swinging wildly in a continued effort to punch the wall into submission.

"Hang on!" Ren shouted, lithely reaching between Nora and Pyrrha to grab Jaune's neck with one hand.

"Wait! Ren what are you doing?!" Pyrrha screamed.

"Just keep holding him still Pyrrha." He replied back, the barest tension creeping into his maddeningly calm voice. Swiftly pressing his index and middle finger to the base of Jaune's skull, his pinkish aura appeared, its pale illumination causing the green haze surrounding Jaune to wither and retreat before it. With a soft pulse he channeled his aura into his fingertips where it exploded in a brief flash of light.

Like a marionette with its strings cut Jaune's whole body went limp, collapsing into a heap with the rest of team Juniper. Along with his strength the foul aura he had been generating vanished as well, leaving behind the barest whiff of corruption in the air of the dorm.

"Ren! What did you do to him? Is he-?" Pyrrah shook Jaune gently and felt for a pulse.

"He'll be ok. I just hit one of his pressure points with my Aura. If he were awake he'd probably be screaming in agony, though given how hard he was hitting his head..." He gazed at the trio of holes in the wall. "...he was probably going to be when he woke up anyway. We should get an ice pack ready for him." He turned to Nora. The moment Jaune went limp she had retreated back to her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest. Passing by her on the way to the freezer for Pyrrha could hear her friend crying softly.

"Nora...that was very brave what you did there." Ren said. Gently positioning himself behind her huddled form he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly to him. "I know that was not something you ever wanted to deal with again. But I'm proud of you. You did a great job, and I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you, ok?" He rested his head on top of hers, humming a quiet lullaby.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Can...can we have some pancakes Ren? I could really use some pancakes right now..."

"You got it Nora, however many you want. I'll get started on them now. I bought the Red Maple syrup you really like at the Farmer's Market this morning. Did you see?" He pulled a large glass bottle of crimson syrup from one of the bags.

She smiled a warm watery smile back at him. "That's great! I can't wait!" Twisting in his grasp she turned around and hugged him tightly around the neck.

Smiling at the sight, Pyrrha moved back to Jaune's bed with the ice pack and her personal first aid kit. She moved to press the pack to the dark purple bruise spreading across his forehead, the pressure causing a trickle of blood to leak down from his hairline. Frowning she removed the ice pack and rummaged through her kit to find a small bandage and disinfectant to treat the wound. As she worked, Jaune eyes started to flutter open and he began to wake up.

"Ugh...wha...was...owwwwww..." Groaning incoherently, his arms moved sluggishly towards his forehead only to have them knocked aside by Pyrrha.

"Shhhhh, hang on Jaune, hold still." She finished affixing the bandage and pressed the ice pack back over his bruise.

With a wince of pain he tried to sit up. Following his movements Pyrrha guided his hand to the ice pack to keep it from falling off his forehead. He sat for a moment in silence, eyes closed and head hung low. Pyrrah sat waiting until his eyes suddenly snapped open and he looked around as if for the first time aware that he was awake.

"Guys! You're here!" He shouted joyfully, leaping out of bed to bear-hug Pyrrha then ran over towards Ren and Nora. "Oh my god, you're here, you're not gone you're-" Halfway to the kitchen he stopped. Ren was mechanically stirring a bowl of batter while looking on curiously, but Nora had visibly flinched away at Jaune's approach, sidling around to cower behind Ren.

"Wha-what's going on?" His sudden burst of energy had drained away just as quickly as it had arrived, and his knees began to wobble dangerously. "Oooooo why is the the floor rotating...?" He groaned in the process of collapsing sideways onto the dorm floor. In an blink Pyrrha was at his side, quickly helping him back onto his feet where he managed to remained standing, albeit a bit unsteadily.

Jaune couldn't understand what was going on. He had that nightmare...and then...what? There was a flash of light and then... pain. So much pain. An icepack having appeared in his head he pressed it back to his forehead which felt like someone had been using it as a speed bag. His vision was still cloudy, his thoughts labored. What the heck was going on? He was...yes he was awake, the pain in his head would seem to confirm that, but why was everyone up so early? And why were they looking at him like he was a Grimm who just kicked down the door?

"Guys...what...what's going on? What time is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" His gaze flicked back and forth between Ren, Pyrrha and then to Nora who was still cowering behind Ren, avoiding looking him directly in the eye.

"Jaune..." Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder. "You had...well I'm not sure what you had exactly, but you had some kind of...attack or something..." She tried to come up with the words to convey what she had just experienced. The vile aura, the spasms...the wall...

"A what? What do you-?" Following her gaze he suddenly saw the wall by his bed. "W-what the-? What happened to the wall!?" He looked at everyone in turn as they stared back at him pointedly. He was starting to have an idea as to the source of the throbbing pain in his head. . "...I...did that?"

Pyrrha quickly tried to explain what had just happened, Jaune staring mutely, obviously shocked, especially at during her explanation of the green aura he had produced while unconscious. Looking embarrassed at his actions he stared at the holes in the wall by his bed, tracing the rough drywall edges that served as a physical reminder of his nightmare.

"What about you Jaune? What do you remember? Was it another nightmare? It sounded like you were trying to scream something out when we were trying to pull you away."

Jaune was in no fit state to filter what he had seen in that dream. Between the growing headache and his disorientation at being so forcibly awoken he couldn't come up with any excuse to hold back the details to Pyrrha's question. In an emotional flood reminiscent of the prior day's confession he laid out the entirety of the dream, from meeting the nightmarish visage of his family's patriarch to tearing the chains from his flesh in an effort to purge himself. They remained an alert audience, listening with rapt attention as he nervously paced in the small room and talked about what he had experienced. He had just finished the describing chains being ripped out of his body when Ren interrupted.

"Jaune...what, exactly, did that thing say to you about the chains that he pulled from you? " Jaune tried to recall what precisely the demon had said to him. The particulars of the dream were rapidly, and somewhat thankfully, fading away like vapor as he became more wakeful but Ren's tone was serious and Jaune concentrated on recalling the details.

"He…he said something about them being the key to my victory. How they're bonded to me or something..."

Ren cocked his head at Jane's words then nodded thoughtfully.

"What? Does that mean something?" Jaune asked.

"Maybe, it might give me a bit of insight in treating you. Sorry for the interruption. Please, continue." Jaune was visibly confused but resumed his story nonetheless.

"Well, after he pulled the chains from me I tried to get away and then...I saw you guys. In the dream, I mean." He paused again with a look that none of them could read. It looked like he was...worried? Yet he looked somewhat ashamed at the same time.

"I saw you all out in my yard. You were all standing there looking in at me. I...I tried to get your attention but..." He gulped, having obvious trouble continuing, his hands fidgeting with his nightshirt and he looked down at the floor, unable to match gaze with any of them. His moment of silence drew out he continued, his voice deadpan, emotionless and pallid.

"In the dream you guys all walked away. You just left me in the house, and walked across the yard. It was hard to see but something, some kind of shadow drew you away from the window and I started hitting it as hard as I could. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't break through, couldn't get to you, and couldn't make you hear. Then nightmare took you all away, and I just..." His voice cracked and he broke off, unable to continue.

The room went still. No one seemed to know what to say. Pyrrha looked to Ren for some kind of guidance, but he just looked back with a "Don't look at me" expression. Nora's prior look of horror had softened, but even she was mute, an awkward chill passing through the room until Jaune drew a rattling breath than looked up. Some of his color had returned, his expression oddly set, like he was forcing his emotions back into a box.

"Pyrrha, you still up for that jog? I'm ready for it if you still are." His words came in a stream, forced out in a burst and then, without waiting for an answer, he went to his footlocker and started rummaging for his workout clothes.

"Jaune...are you sure? You really hit your head hard back there..." Pyrrha asked him with obvious concern etched in her voice. Jaune didn't even look up as he dug out his shorts and a workout shirt.

"I'm fine. Really, I'm ok." He replied back with a voice no more reassuring than his blank face.

Pyrrha looked to the others once again for guidance on what to do. "Just go." Ren encouraged. "We still have to unpack all of this and I need to get the tonic started as well-"

"-Don't forget the pancakes!" Nora pouted loudly.

Ren smiled at her, resuming stirring as if only just now remembering that he had the bowl in his hands. "Of course not. We'll make sure to make plenty ok?" Nora beamed back up at him.

"Ok, we won't be too long. We'll come back and help won't we, Jaune?" Pyrrha turned just as he pulled on his workout shirt. He had paused, his eyes fixated on the broken wall by his bed.

"Yeah...definitely. We'd better get a move on though. We have class in a few hours." He turned towards the door. Jaune's current flatness was starting to irritate Pyrrah, but she decided not to pursue it for the moment and focus on their workout.

"We'll be back soon, ok?" With a final wave and a shrug directed at the other two Pyrrah followed Jaune out into the hallway.

Out in the hallway they walked in silence. Pyrrah was glad for the early hour saving them from running into any fellow students, she was still trying to figure out what was going on with Jaune and he didn't seem interested in discussing anything further. Reaching the courtyard in front of their dorms Pyrrha was forced to break the quiet tension between them.

"Ok. Well today I figured we'd start with a light jog around the dorms. Nothing major. We're just going to find a pace you can maintain for the whole run and see how you respond, ok?" She looked over at him and he nodded.

With that she led off at a moderate pace. The early morning air was still crisp and cool, the sun barely over the horizon and yet to truly peek through the clouds. Fall weather here was much milder than in Mistral, where the summers often stretched right up until the edge of winter. _I could get used to this,_ she thought. Hot weather might have advantages for more intensive training, but it got tiresome when it drug on for over 3/4 of the year. Starting to let herself go she forced herself to rein things back, letting Jaune follow a little behind, head bowed trying to match her speed.

They continued in silence for several minutes. She hadn't done this lap in some time with everything going on, and marveled again at just how beautiful the view of the campus grounds was. The area surrounding the dorm was lushly landscaped with plenty of small bushes and trees dotting the light green grass that surrounded the dorm block. It reminded her a lot of the plains near her home.

A little more than halfway through the jog she heard the ragged breathing that signified that Jaune, while otherwise stoic, was nearing his limit. She slowed her pace slightly, not realizing she had been running so hard. Glancing over her shoulder to confirm she saw Jaune puffing hard, his face ruddy and soaked with sweat, his eyes set in a blank, unfocused stare down at the path in front of him. She frowned slightly but kept moving forward. What was going on with him? One minute he was energetically telling them about his nightmare and then he completely shut down. This wasn't like him, especially when it came to her. Ever since she found out about his falsified entrance into Beacon he hadn't kept anything from her, yet here he was...doing his best imitation of a freshwater Vale clam.

They finished the jog a few minutes later. Panting hard in the courtyard outside the dorm entrance, Jaune staggered to a stop and doubled over, hands braced against his knees.

"Here Jaune..." Pyrrha said softly, drawing up next to him and gently placed her hand on his chest, guiding him back up into a standing position. "Stand up and lean your head back with your arms up that will help you recover. And keep walking around, don't stand in one spot or you'll cramp." Jaune emitted a small gasp as she pressed her hand on his chest, then nodded and complied with a wince. He stretched his arms up and leaned his head back with his eyes closed.

"Ok, we'll take a 3 minute break then do some calisthenics exercises like I mentioned last night. You still up for it?" Pyrrha looked him over as she spoke, taking note of Jaune's physical appearance. He was still breathing unsteadily, his whole body was flushed with exertion and his workout shirt was completely soaked through with sweat. The signs were there, she thought, he was pushing himself too hard again, still. He obviously wasn't accustomed to running neither at this pace nor for this long before and it showed. His facade had started to show cracks but they just as quickly faded as he became aware she was looking at him intently.

"Sure, yeah. I'm up for them. What are we gonna do?" He replied, not quite managing to keep worry from showing on his face.

Remembering Ren's words Pyrrha went on to describe the workout. "We'll do 20 each pushups, situps then, finish with a plank for 1 minute, then restart the circuit. We'll try for 3 today to see how you do."

Jaune nodded and dropped into a pushup position. The routine easy by her standards Pyrrah paid more attention to her partner. He managed to get through the first set fairly fine, though at a significantly slower pace than her own; she had already gotten partially through her 2nd circuit by the time he finished his first plank. Midway through his 2nd circuit he collapsed when attempting a push up, his arms crumpling and spasming slightly while he tried to gasp for air. Before she could quite react he pushed himself back up to his hands and knees and held there, his body rocking back and forth with each shuddering gasp.

Pyrrha paused her exercise and looked across at him. He was...crying? He was trying to hide it but focusing she could see it. He wasn't making any noise beyond his uneven breathing but she could see the tightly shut eyes leaking tears to mix with his sweat and drip onto the pavement. His face was screwed up in a pained grimace as he tried to hold back the emotions he had been keeping under lid all morning.

"Jaune! Are you ok? Did you pull a muscle?" She said, hurrying over and bending down next to him.

"I don't know Pyrrha, I just don't know anymore..." He choked out in response. The pain seemed to radiate from him body and mind as he tried to pull his knees up into a seated position.

"Hey...come here..." She grasped his shoulders and started helping him to his feet only for him to pitch forward, what passed for the contents of his stomach erupting out of his throat. He didn't have much in him other than bile and few chunks of indeterminable food but he kept going, coughing and heaving several times before managing to take multiple breaths in a row without heaving.

Wincing at his obvious pain she helped him back up once he was done, leading him away from the warm pool of vomit and over to a nearby bench facing away towards the center of the courtyard. Sitting him down and absently wiping the flecks of spittle from his lips she took the seat next to him. "...talk to me. Please, what's going on?"

It was a few minutes before he finally managed to get himself under control enough to speak. Wiping his eyes he took another deep breath and began to talk at a frantic pace.

"Sorry Pyrrha, it's just...I can't believe I had another one of those nightmares again, especially after what we talked about last night. I dreamt you guys abandoned me and that demon I was facing was taunting me about it the whole time, how it was so sure I would be betrayed by you guys and then you tell me I was sleep- tearing the room apart! Did you see Nora's face? She's terrified of me! What am I? What the hell have I done?"

Pyrrha held his head in her hands, forcing him to face her, looking him directly in eyes. "You had a nightmare Jaune, that's all. Something about the dust is messing with your head. You're not at fault here-"

"-But what about what happened in class, and this morning? I'm conjuring some sort of disgusting aura that nobody knows what it is, and you said I almost clocked you in the face! And then Nora-" he was pleading at this point.

"Look, Nora has some issues of her own she's dealing with. You didn't know about it, I didn't know about it. But she handled it when she saved you from that nightmare and Ren is taking care of her right now. It's going to be ok Jaune."

He pulled away from her grasp, her assurances not having the desired effect. She could tell he was trying to regain control only to cough, barely holding back sobs as he looked down, and blinking back more tears. "I can't believe I let that happen. After all that talk last night, I go ahead and do...well..._this..._" He gestured at some invisible disaster in front of him.

"Jaune..." She was suddenly seized by a wild impulse. She wanted to reach out to him and take the hurt away, just make him see sense somehow. She just wanted to...

Whereas before she would reach out to him to force him to focus, this time when she reached over it was with far more personal emotion, pulling him over to her in a tight embrace. She held him fast as he cried silently and hugged back like he was clutching a life preserver. "It's not your fault. No one got hurt. We're all ok, and we're still here aren't we? It's only the morning of your first day of recovery. I'm not going to abandon you and neither will Ren and Nora. I promise."

Jaune sniffed a little, the stiffness in his body slowly wilting as he returned the hug. They sat like that, together for almost a minute before he slowly pulled away. Looking up she saw the first signs of one of his awkward smile coming through and Pyrrha was only too happy to return. "But what about the nightmare, you aren't-"

"Ssshhh, sshhh" she cooed, not wanting to let him spiral back into self-pity. "Like I said, it was just a nightmare." She smiled even more broadly back at him. "I'm more interested in the real world than dreams anyway-oof!" Without warning Jaune had dived back in, embracing her again with a bear hug of his own.

"You're...you're the best, you know that? I wouldn't be even half of what I am today without you. I probably wouldn't even be alive ...I just can't thank you enough...for everything." Whereas the first hug had been comforting, this one was passionate and she returned the embrace just as enthusiastically, lost in the warm glow between them. She wanted to stay there forever...just like this, a pure moment of happiness the like she hadn't experienced since that wonderful night at the dance. In his own little way she felt he had started improving. He had made his first move...and by goddess it felt so good to be this close to him. Maybe...would he go further...?

_Patience girl..._she chided herself. He was emotionally fragile right now; better not to push it too far too fast. Besides, she was more than content to extend the time lost in his arms and his warm scent. Lost in the moment the embrace seemed to last an eternity before they finally broke apart, each beet red in the face.

"W-we'd better get back before...uhm...they need our help making your tonic remember?" She stuttered out, nervously smiling back at him. Somehow he managed to get even redder at her glance, flush with something far different from shame or fatigue.

"Y-yeah, he's probably drowning in pancake batter right now...heh" Happening to glance back she spotted his vomit, the pool somehow having already into dark ash, blowing away in the early morning breeze. Shuddering slightly at the sight she turned back towards the dorm, the two of them making their way back to their friends hand in hand.


	10. Chapter 10 - Pancakes and a Soul Cleanse

**Sorry for the long delay in updates folks, I hope to make it up with a 3 chapter update here! Also check out chapters 8 and 9 as well. With the help of my good friend Michael, he assisted in editing and tightening up some spots that got a little too repetitive. Editing after publishing, amirite? **

**Anyhow I hope you enjoy the next 3 chapters! And as always, your feedback/comments/reviews are deeply appreciated. **

They soon found themselves back at their dorm room, still slightly red faced but grinning happily at each other. He gave her hand one more squeeze before pulling his scroll from his shorts and unlocking the door. Entering the dorm they found Ren and Nora had been quite busy. The groceries had been piled off into a corner along with the rest of the giant glass bottles. A large portion of them appeared to have already been used for the tonic as there now were several of them filled with a dark red liquid along with several others containing what looked like some kind of clear oil. The unusual smell of cooking pancakes hit them like a warm cloud as soon as they crossed the threshold.

"Woah!" Jaune was momentarily dazed by the smell hitting his nostrils, his mouth immediately salivating, and his stomach began a low urgent rumble of hunger. He had experienced Ren's pancake cook-offs multiple times before, Nora's stomach was as big as an Ursa's when it came to those things, but this was...different, more intense somehow. It appeared he had changed his recipe in a way that seemed to just radiate the sense of warm delicious comfort you got from eating them when you were really hungering for one. And boy did he realize he was suddenly very hungry...

Pyrrha noticed the change as well. "Ren? Are you ok? We're back from the jog!" She called out to him but didn't get a response. After walking forward a bit, he finally responded from the kitchenette. Something was occupying his attention and his voice came out a bit more stressed than his normal cool flat tone.

"Hey guys, I'll be out in a minute. Can you please check on Nora? I haven't heard anything from her ever since the 8th batch and I'm too tied up in here to see if she's ok."

They both looked at each other and shared the same thought. _8 batches of Pancakes!?_ They both headed over to Nora's bed and stopped. They hadn't noticed her before when coming in and now they saw why. She had decided to change into a pink pajama onesie hoodie that made her look like a pile of matching sheets from her bed. She was lying on her back with several plates covered in the sticky remnants of pancakes and syrup. Syrup was splattered everywhere, on her pajamas, her sheets...on...herself. She had some kind of drunken grin and was gazing at the ceiling in what could only be described as the mother of all food comas. Clearly many pancakes had died this day, and the battle was...messy...

"Uh...Nora?" Jaune asked tentatively. "Are you ok?"

"Hehehe..." She replied in breezy daze. "...no more pancakes for me Mr. Fluffles. Mama Magnhilde is full now...heeeee..."

They both exchanged another look and burst out into suppressed chuckles. "Come on Jaune, lets at least collect these dishes..." Pyrrha began gathering the scattered plates all over Nora's bed and body. "...ugh...she even got syrup in her hair..."

Jaune picked up a few more plates himself and what appeared to be the entire collection of forks from their kitchen drawers. "Why did she use up all the forks?" He asked blankly, holding up a fistful of sticky cutlery.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She stood up with her arms full of messy dishes. "Come on, lets check on Ren, this is definitely something new for me as well..."

They made their way to the kitchen and found Ren looking more frazzled than...well ever really. His normally neatly combed hair was going in multiple directions and his cooking apron was singed and splattered with various substances. A pile of dirty pans and bowls lay in the sink and the range fan was on maximum power as it tried to vent the oddly oppressive smell of the cooking pancakes coming from the stove. He dumped another pancake onto a pile on the counter and reached for the batter bowl to his right before he stopped upon seeing them enter.

"How's Nora?" he asked at once. He continued to reach for the mixing bowl and began stirring the dark brown batter.

"Uhhh..." Jaune looked at Pyrrha for guidance. She shrugged back at him, unsure of how to describe Nora's condition herself. "...I think she's ok? Uh, she's kind of a in a sugar crash, or she's drunk. She had all of these plates and forks all over her and it looks like she took a bath in Red Maple Syrup."

Ren stopped. "Oh thank goodness...I can finally stop making these..." His shoulders sunk down with exhaustion as he placed the bowl still full of batter back on the counter and switched off the stove. He collapsed in a nearby chair and tried to tame the crazy mane his hair had become.

They both added their plates and cutlery to the pile in the sink and sat down next to him. This was certainly a first for both of them, Ren actually looked tired, exhausted even. Jaune quickly retrieved a pitcher of water from the fridge and poured a glass for everyone.

"Here you go Pyrrha." He handed over a glass to her and then to Ren who was still slumped in his chair head hung low in fatigue. "Ren, what happened with Nora? What's going on with these pancakes?" Jaune asked.

Ren took a long gulp of water from his glass before he answered. "I guess you can say this is Nora's Emergency Pancake Recipe."

"Come again?"

"When Nora has a particularly bad...experience, I make these for her. I infuse a bit of my aura into them when they cook. Somehow these will calm her down, when normal ones won't. I don't recall how I figured it out, it was a really long time ago, pretty much around the time we first met, but suffice to say, they work when nothing else will."

"You infuse your aura into them?" Jaune sputtered in disbelief, water spilled out of his mouth midway through his 4th glass. "You can do that?"

"Yes, it's not something that's done very often, practically a forgotten art, but like I said earlier, my family knows these sort of things. Still, they are quite draining to make. I haven't had to make so much in a long time, not since her last episode several years ago..."

They all sat in silence for a moment before Pyrrha pulled herself off the chair and placed a hand on Ren's shoulder. "That was very kind of you Ren. Thank you for doing that for Nora. I saw some jugs of red liquid outside, are those...?"

He nodded. "Yes, the first batch is ready to go. I do apologize for the mess, but I wanted to get it done before you got back from your exercise. I trust it went well?"

He immediately noted both of them blushing before Jaune spoke up rather quickly. "Yeah! It went pretty good actually!" He stood up and followed Pyrrha's lead. "Thanks a lot Ren. I really appreciate all you're doing. For Nora, and for me. I'm glad I have you all helping me out like this." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Uhm...is Nora going to be ok...with me I mean? I must have done something during my dream to frighten her, and I just want to say I'm sorry and-"

Ren cut him off with a raised hand. "Don't worry about it Jaune. You had no way of knowing. I'll explain what's going on with her later if she feels up to talking about it. She doesn't hate you or anything like that, she's just more sensitive to this kind of thing than many people realize."

Jaune nodded. "Ok, that's good to hear at least." He looked around the kitchen. "Ok, then let me at least start making it up to you guys. I'll take care of the kitchen cleanup duties so you can clean yourself up and take the first shower."

"I'll help too." Pyrrha piped up. "It'll go faster if both of us are working at it. Ren you'll probably want to take a look at Nora. She might need some help getting out of bed, and be careful...she's...sticky."

Ren smiled and nodded. "Thanks, that's par for the course with her. It's a good thing she has plenty of spare bedsheets." He stood, hanging his apron on the wall and made his way over to Nora to try and extricate her from her bed.

The morning continued with everyone moving around the dorm and getting ready for the day. Jaune and Pyrrha managed to get the kitchen in some form of order, but that odd smell from Ren's pancakes would not go away despite how much cleaning solution they used. They resigned themselves to leaving the range fan on and leaving all of their windows open to air out the place. Ren had taken his shower together with Nora, which in any other circumstance would have raised eyebrows, but given how Nora was still sugar crashing into narcoleptic fits and constantly protesting that "Mr. Fluffles was going to steal her syrup" it was accepted that having Ren in the shower with her would probably be safer for all involved. Plus it had the added benefit of allowing Jaune and Pyrrha to share some more alone time with each other, which mainly consisted of them holding hands at the table and blushing constantly as they tried to make small talk.

Once Ren finished with his shower, Jaune insisted Pyrrha take hers next. Alone at last in the sleeping area, Jaune was left to stare at the mess that was his bed: Three giant holes in the wall and a whole mess of plaster and drywall chips covering the sheets and pillows. He took a mental image of what he saw before him. _Never again..._he promised himself and got to work cleaning up. While he worked on cleaning up that mess, he bundled up Nora's sheets and covers from her bed and placed them in her laundry bag. It was a small thing, but he hoped it would make some headway in putting Nora back at ease with him. He decided to take it one step further and lay out new bedsheets and covers for her. _Might as well take care of the whole thing._ Nodding in approval after everything was set just so, he turned to see Pyrrha coming out of the bathroom and toweling off her hair. She fixed herself with a mock pout.

"Aww, you'll prepare Nora's bed but not mine Jaune?" Sputtering wildly he started to protest when she giggled merrily at his expression. "It was just a joke silly! Don't worry, I'll take care of my bed. That was very nice of you by the way, I'm sure Nora will appreciate it once she's more lucid."

Sure enough, despite the shower and Ren's ministrations, Nora was still not 100% there as she emerged from the bathroom. Ren was still guiding her carefully by her arms as she still seemed to be under the drunken influence of the mountain of consumed pancakes and syrup. At least she was still smiling in a vacant sort of way, so that was back to normal. Ren quickly set about getting her uniform on and trying to make her presentable for the day. Pyrrha assisted with her hair, now thankfully free of syrup. Jaune decided to stay out of the way and take his shower. As he exited the bathroom, he spotted the bottles covering Ren's desk, and began examining them. On closer inspection the tonic Ren had made looked...he realized with sudden discomfort...kind of like blood. It certainly had the dark crimson color often associated with it, but seeing so much up close brought back memories of yesterday's infirmary visit he'd sooner rather forget. Next to the tonic bottles were several others filled with a clear viscous liquid. He still couldn't figure out what those were for. They appeared to be kind of a...syrup? Oil? He wasn't sure. He looked at his watch.

"Crap! Guys! We need to get to class. We've only got 20 minutes to get to Port's room!"

With a flurry of activity they all hastily grabbed their bags and books and prepped to head out of the door. Nora was still kind of woozy and in no fit state to run. Thinking quickly Ren decided to Piggy-back her to the classroom while Jaune took care of his bookbag and scroll. Making it with time to spare they all settled together in the back row of seats and prepped for another "riveting" lecture from Professor Port. _Maybe this time I'll actually be able to stay awake_ Jaune thought glumly.

In truth, he stayed awake and alert mainly due to his stomach roaring with hungry fury at him. The morning incident with the wall, then the exercise and then the pancakes had completely obliterated any chance to head to the dining hall for breakfast or even to sample some of Ren's pancakes he realized with a smack to his head...His stomach growled audibly enough that a couple of nearby students looked at him curiously.

_Dammit, I have to eat something._ He did have some emergency backup jerky he always carried with him in his bookbag...hopefully it wasn't too old. He was about to reach for it, then stopped himself as he thought of something. Leaning over as casually as he could, he whispered to Ren.

"Hey uh Ren...uhm, this tonic of yours? Can I eat something before I take it? I just realized I missed breakfast and I'm kinda starving..."

Ren looked sideways and cracked his lips slightly. "I'm sorry Jaune but it's better if you take that on an empty stomach. Trust me, it'll be better for all involved if you do."

Jaune groaned inwardly. Great, another 45 minutes of Port being, well...Port, and then drinking that tonic. Ren did say it would be a 'meal replacement' wouldn't it? That was encouraging, maybe it would fill him up for the rest of the day. He endured the rest of the lecture in rumbling discomfort. By the end of the lecture he was practically chomping at the bit to get back to the dorm for something, _anything_ to eat. The paint chips from the holes in his wall even sounded appetizing.

They made it back to their dorm and settled down for a 2 hour break before their next class. Nora was mostly awake now and hovered nearby Ren, eagerly watching him prepare the bottles of Jaune's tonic. Jaune and Pyrrha sat together on her bed and watched, Jaune's nerves finally starting to manifest as he recalled Ren's warning about the tonic from last night. Fidgeting nervously as Ren prepped the bottles, his eyes widened a little when he brought out a large, heavy-duty plastic bucket. Shaking one of the bottles of clear liquid he finally turned to Jaune with a serious expression.

"Alright Juane, we're ready to begin. This tonic should heal you...I think, but it will not be a pleasant experience. The Soul Cleanser is aptly named, it will clean everything out of you...and I do mean everything..."

"Uhm...Ren...don't you think that's a little...melodramatic?" Jaune asked with a half smile. "I mean, that can't really do that can it? You're just psyching me up for-"

"It's true." Nora suddenly interjected with an uncharacteristically serious tone. She was looking at the tonic in a way Jaune couldn't fathom before she turned to him again. "Don't knock it till you try it. Renny worked his magic with me and I'm living proof that it worked!" She finished with her bubbly grin.

Jaune considered that. The thought of ending up slightly off kilter like Nora seemed a small price to pay if it meant clearing him of this horrible poison that was inside of him. He turned back to Ren.

"Ok so what exactly do I do? What will this tonic do?"

Ren brought two bottles forward. One of the mystery clear liquid and the other of that blood-colored tonic. "This tonic consists of two parts as you can see here..." He held up the clear liquid bottle first. "This is the binder. It serves as a means to allow the tonic to pull the toxins out of your system, think of it like a cargo ship for the poison."

Jaune nodded. "Ok sure sounds straightforward enough..."

"It also will serve as an anesthetic. I cannot stress enough how painful this will be for you. I modified the recipe to at least take some of the edge off. It won't completely numb the pain, but it should at least dull it somewhat..." He didn't seem to have a lot of confidence in that last part Jaune noted. He then held up the tonic.

"This as you can probably guess is the tonic. It will act like a magnet to...forcibly pull the dust particles out of your system." He was starting to look uncomfortable now, even Jaune could notice it.

"Ren, what's wrong?" Pyrrha asked. "Is there something we should know?"

Ren seemed to have taken a page out of Jaune's emotional playbook and was starting to nervously finger the stopper on the tonic bottle.

"I suppose you could say that..." He looked down before continuing. His voice still had that calm collected tone but was edged with palpable worry. "Last night I said I would help because the thought of handling a case like Jaune's was exciting, something I can truly test myself against. A lethal case of dust poisoning with an actual survivor is not something one gets to deal with very frequently..."

_Everyone_ shifted uncomfortably at the repeat of that bit of knowledge. "...having said that however, I need to be completely honest with you. I have never used the Soul Cleanser on someone with this level of toxicity in their blood before. I'm beginning to have doubts about its effectiveness. I don't know how this will turn out and that...frightens me. All I have in this situation is my knowledge and some hope that it will be enough. I usually prefer to head into danger with something more concrete than that..."

He turned to Jaune again, gripping the two bottles tightly in his hands. "I don't want to perform something like this on the basis of something so flimsy. You deserve better Jaune, maybe we should go back to Marcus at the hospital, maybe he can-"

Jaune just looked back at him and smiled with a shake of his head. Ren stopped midway through his protestation. "-what? What's so funny?"

"Lie Ren having doubts about his Aura and Dust skills? Now I really have seen everything." Jaune smiled even more broadly at him. Ren returned it with a scowl.

"This isn't a joke Jaune! You must understand I've never done something like this before. You are putting yourself in grave danger by doing this, surely you understand that!"

Ren could tell Jaune was putting on a brave face for his sake. He _had_ to know how serious this was. Yet if it was an act, it certainly was a convincing one. "No, what I'm doing is putting faith in my teammate, and being confident in the fact he knows more about Aura and dust than I'll probably ever know myself. I trust you Ren. Sure, I'm scared as hell right now, especially after what's been happening the last couple of days." He glanced at the holes in the wall before looking back, his face set with a determined look.

"But here's the thing. You've done things in Goodwitch's class with aura manipulation that I didn't think physically possible. And your tonic idea matches exactly what Marcus said to do! Fruits, vegetables, high fiber all of that jazz. I saw the groceries, you're not poisoning me, you're helping me. You can't feel wrong for doing that."

"But-"

Jaune threw up his hands with a shrug. "Look, one way or another, this dust has to come out of me somehow right? I'd rather have it happen surrounded by teammates rather than try to do it solo in case something goes wrong. And if something does go wrong, I won't hold it against you for doing something you thought to be right. I'm willing to face the dangers if it means getting myself on track to become a proper leader of this team."

Ren stood there slightly dumbstruck at what he was hearing. In the span of a brief conversation he had gone from doubting whether to proceed with the treatment method at all to eager to vindicate his team leader's faith in him. And the crazy part was Juane probably didn't even realize what he was doing, it was all just...trust and faith in his team. Blind faith perhaps? No, he decided after a moment's reflection. Jaune had mentioned his aura accomplishments so that at least showed his faith was not borne blindly out of simple loyalty. He really did trust him. He trusted him with his life and was facing it all with a soft smile and bloodshot blue eyes that met his own without blinking. This certainly was a new experience for him. He sighed then finally returned Jaune's smile.

"Alright Jaune, if you feel you are up to it." He got serious once again. "As I said earlier, this tonic will aggressively try to siphon the dust out of your system. In order for you to properly recover, the tonic will first target your digestive system. It does this because we have to get your body back on track to properly absorbing nutrients. The dust will be pulled into your GI tract where it will be...expelled. Hopefully smoothly, but it is the only way with this method."

"By expelled you mean..." Jaune started to ask.

"You're going to take a big poop silly!" Nora piped up with another bout of fresh giggles.

Jaune blushed at the thought. "Uhhh...I'll have time right? Like enough time to run to the bathroom?"

Ren smiled. "Yes you should. It works fast, but it doesn't work _that_ fast. I'll be here with this bucket in case something goes amiss. Are you ready to begin?"

"Might as well..." He took a deep breath and stood up. Ren directed him to the center of the room where he had the most space and handed him the clear bottle and placed the bucket next to him. "Ok, drink this first. This will begin the process." He turned to the others. "Guys you'll want to give him a wide berth. If this tonic causes a reaction, I want to be sure you're not next to him if it happens."

"Wait. What kind of reaction are we talking about? What's going to happen?" Jaune was just about to pop open the clear bottle but had stopped at Ren's directions.

Ren looked back at him. "I can't discount the possibility that the dust in your body will react violently somehow when pulled out of your system like this. Based on what I have researched and from what you told me of your previous nightmares...well...It's possible that the dust in your system might cause another episode like you had this morning. I want to be ready for it if it happens again."

Jaune reflexively felt the sore spot at the base of his skull and nodded. "Make sure you have an icepack handy then? And some aspirin." He grinned and tipped back the contents of the clear bottle down his throat. Ren meanwhile moved off, placing himself between Jaune and the others, his hands raised in a defensive position.

The contents were...sweet actually. Kind of like drinking sugar syrup. In a few seconds he started losing feeling in his tongue followed quickly by the rest of his mouth and then pretty much the rest of his face. The cool numbing sensation spread down his throat and seemed to blossom out of his stomach, leaving him feeling relaxed and slightly sleepy.

He tried to speak but found speech difficult with a numb tongue. Through the use of very slurred speech (which resulted in a giggle fit by both Nora and Pyrrha) and hand gestures he got the go-ahead to drink the second blood red bottle.

He didn't really taste anything with his tongue being so numbed. He thought he felt something tingly, spicy maybe? Like drinking hot sauce. He drained the bottle in one gulp and turned to face them and gave them a thumbs up. _Well that wasn't so bad._ _If just a spicy aftertaste is all I have to deal with then this should be no-_

_"_HRRRKKK!" Jaune suddenly gagged loudly and doubled over, clutching his abdomen. Some claw made of acid and fire was trying to forcibly untangle his insides like a cat's cradle. The pain was beyond anything he had ever felt. His vision started going haywire. Colors of all types flashed across his eyes and everything was melting in and out of focus. Staggering around the room, he struggled to remain standing, his sense of balance thoroughly destroyed. Panicking and blinking furiously, he tried to clear his vision as the pain in his stomach threatened to break him apart. He saw Ren...he was shouting something...couldn't hear it...why was his skin...purple...?

His vision dissolved to inky blackness.


	11. Chapter 11 - Side Effects may Include

Jaune blinked and the room was gone. _He was on the edge of Forever Fall Forest...there was the Demonic Charlemagne...the ground between them began to rumble...cracking apart... Separated by the growing chasm the Demon appeared angrier than ever, swelling with inky fury. Jaune blinked..._

He was back in the dorm. They were shouting at him? What was...he was supposed to do something...what were they..._The ground was tearing itself apart between them. The demon roared again...shadowy copies of his friends appeared with the being on the opposite side of the growing chasm...good...they were getting further away_..._"_ -just a bit further Jaune! It's working just hang on! We're-"

_Suddenly, the demon was at his side, and with it the twisted shadows of his team..why was Nora a pancake?...they reached out and seized him with so much strength...forcing him down...they reached inside him, ripping him apart..._

As horrific as things were going for Jaune, from Ren's perspective the experience was no less terrifying, though for different reasons. Jaune had begun to spasm and twitch like during his nightmare earlier this morning. Even more concerning he had taken on a sickly shade of pale green while cobweb patterns of bulging veins popped all across his exposed skin. He was making a horrible gagging noise as he began to stumble around the room. The oppressive feeling they had experienced earlier during his morning waking was beginning to return. Ren heard a small whimper from behind him that told him Nora was already being affected by it.

"Come on Jaune! Just a bit further! It's working, just hang on! We're here for you!" Ren yelled, trying to will the tonic to do its job faster.

Jaune doubled over again and then spoke. A voice...a horrible rasping hiss quite unlike his own spilled from the mouth of Jaune Arc like blood seeping from an open wound. "I...am...not so easily defeated...boy..." Jaune's whole body shuddered amidst another bout of retching. Ren immediately saw things weren't proceeding as planned. Time for Plan B, he thought...

"Guys! Grab him and keep his face over the bucket! It's going to come out!" He dashed over to Jaune, pulling his leader's head down towards the floor. The others joined as well, grabbing his arms and pulling them back to keep his face pinned over the bucket as Ren kicked it into position.

Within seconds a roar that mixed pain and gagging filled the room. Jaune began to buck and heave as his body began to forcibly expel the contents of his stomach into the bucket. An alarming quantity of acidic green tar poured from his mouth, splattering into the bucket with a disgusting wet noise. The smell was incomprehensibly vile, the whole team soon holding their breaths lest they follow his lead onto the vomit express. Thankfully, however, within a few seconds Jaune's expulsions stopped and he went limp. He had passed out again.

Gently moving him away from the bucket, they rolled him over and laid him out on the floor. Nora quickly retreated, zipping about to make sure every single window in the dorm room was open in an attempt to air out the horrible smell.

Panting slightly, Pyrrha was the first to speak. "Ren...I take it...that wasn't supposed to happen?" She sat down, propping up Jaune's head on her leg, and shaking him gently trying to wake him.

Ren was bent over the contents of the bucket, examining them closely in spite of the overpowering stench. "No...he should not have reacted this badly, though I was afraid something like this may happen. I was hoping it wouldn't..." He removed a small pipette from his jacket and extracted a small sample of the green bile. "I need to look at this quickly. Let me know when he's awake again." Gingerly carrying the sample he walked over to his desk where he immediately went to work with his chemistry set.

It was another several minutes before Jaune returned to consciousness, and a couple more before he was able to sit himself up on the bed. Even then his pallor hadn't improved much and he was trembling slightly as he sat.

"Ren..." His voice came out in a raspy whisper after about the third attempt to speak. "...what happened? Did the tonic work? W-What's that smell?"

Distracted, Ren didn't answer immediately. He was busy mixing some of the sample into another vial and observing the reaction. After a few seconds the contents flashed into a dull green before the liquid crystallized into dark emerald shards inside the vial. "We've got a problem Jaune..."

Ren went on to recount what had happened and what his test results had revealed about the bile that Jaune had been expelled.

"So that green stuff...it's all dust? And all of that dust came out of _me?_" Jaune couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yes. Concentrated, calcified dust, probably mainly from your stomach and esophageal tissue. It certainly removed a lot, but this also presents us with a problem. You've got way more dust in you than even what the blood test reported. The first dose didn't work properly."

"Why? How do you know it didn't work? I mean, it got a whole bunch out of me didn't it?"

"Yes, but it shouldn't have done it in this way. It should have just helped your body flush it out by itself naturally. This...this pulled so much dust into your stomach that your body reacted as if it was being poisoned all over again and tried to purge, violently."

"So...this means...?" Jaune looked up nervously, almost expecting what was about to come next.

Ren closed his eyes. He didn't want to be the bearer of news like this, but..."You need to take another dose. Now, if possible."

Nora and Pyrrha immediately started to protest but Ren held up a hand to quiet them. "Look, I know it's not the most appealing course of action. But we're under a bit of a time constraint here. I assume you wish to still make that sparring exam by the end of the month Jaune?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then we need to keep administering this tonic until you can hold it down. Until you can actually digest food properly you're not going to recover, not if this first attempt is any indication. No one can fight on an empty stomach."

Jaune looked up this time with the first traces of fear. His confidence from earlier was nearly gone and his ashen face seemed to fold in on itself as he contemplated what lay before him. Gritting his teeth he finally nodded.

"Ok...lets do this again. Stay close to me guys." Lurching to his feet he staggered across the room to kneel before the bucket. Ren quickly swapped out a clean bucket before handing Jaune another vial. Taking a deep breath Jaune downed the clear elixir once again.

Over the next hour they would repeat the process three more times. Each was roughly the same, violent spasms followed by even more vile vomiting up of the same green tar that came out in quantities that would seem to defy medical logic or volume constraints. About the only positive thing that could be said was that he wasn't speaking in that horrid voice he had used during the first attempt, nor having any more visions. "Just flashes of images...nothing concrete you know?" He had tried to explain while recovering from the 3rd attempt.

After the 4th round Ren called a halt to the effort. He had gathered samples each time and decided it was time to make use of the Chem lab on campus to do a more detailed analysis of both the dust drinks and the green tar that Jaune had now filled four buckets with. In addition to Jaune's increasingly weakening constitution the stench in the room had about gotten to the point that all present had had enough and needed a break, though first they needed to figure out what to do with the four buckets of vile guck.

For Jaune it was just as well. He had collapsed sideways after Ren's announcement and was in no hurry to get back up. His skin now resembled the waxy chalk of a corpse. Worse, yet more bulging veins had appeared in the follow up attempts, the crooked lines softly pulsing all over his face and body.

"Jaune...how are you holding up?" Pyrrha asked, reaching over to stroke the back of his head. Even on his scalp she felt the odd ridges the expanded veins had created across his skull, resiting the urge to trace them as she tried to smooth his sweat-matted hair.

At first Jaune didn't respond and she wondered if he might have, again, fainted. Slowly, however, he shifted his weight, pitching forward as he tried to push himself back up to his knees. His arms shuddered with the effort and it was another few moments before he managed to make it into a kneeling position and face Pyrrha. She recoiled slightly at the sight. He really _did_ look like a corpse. The dark circles that had been present under his eyes for the past several weeks now stood out vividly under his pale skin, the hollows combined with his chapped, taut lips giving him the visage of a vein covered skull.

About the only thing that seemed to have improved noticeably were his eyes. Instead of the solid bloodshot state they had been for the past two weeks, they now had a sort of spiderweb pattern of angry red veins crossing them, the whites clearly visible behind them. "I guess you could say I've been better..." He responded with a weak grin. "...it's weird though...like...I feel completely torn up inside but...I don't feel tired like I was earlier..like not in a normal sense you know?"

Pulling him back to lay across her lap she rubbed his shoulder gently in response. She couldn't make heads or tails of what he was talking about, but he was awake and smiling. For now she would mark that a victory. "Alright, well you take it easy ok? Remember what I said earlier? It's your first day, lets take it one step at a time and we'll get you back up to full force in no time."

He nodded shakily before turning to Nora with a concerned look. "Hey there Nora? Are you doing ok? I didn't frighten you did I?"

She responded happily, thought not as forcefully as she usually did. "Mmmm it was kinda spooky at the beginning, but I'm ok!" She flexed her muscular arms and flashed her trademark grin. "I'm more concerned what a stinkybutt you've become with all this green stuff that seems to keep coming out of you!"

Jaune looked at the four buckets, now foaming nearly up to the brim with the former contents of his body. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing. That had been inside of him. He was alive with that much dust inside of him and he could feel there was still more left to remove. What was it that Marcus had said? _How you're alive with that much dust inside of you is a mystery to me and my profession..._

Well it certainly was a mystery to him now as well. Pulling his gaze away from the sight, Jaune turned to Ren. "So... what now?"

Ren looked up from his work of packing various vials of liquids and the remaining Grimmjaws in a heavy carrying case covered in numerous warnings and symbols declaring the hazardous nature of the contents. Snapping it shut he placed it carefully atop a second identical case already filled with the same.

"Well, we pretty much stick to the original plan. You've made a little progress this morning. Your eyes have improved and by the fourth dose I noticed a significant reduction in your spasming, which I'm going to assume is a good thing ." He patted the two cases on his desk. "We're going to make sure one of these gets to Marcus. I've packed the remaining Grimmjaws with samples of their extracted dust along with samples of what came out of you this morning. Hopefully he can offer a second perspective on what we're dealing with here."

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, he seemed to know his stuff. Thanks Ren, I'm sure he'll appreciate it." He began to look around for his scroll. "How much time do we have until Oobleck's class? I could really go for a drink of water." Jaune was beginning to feel...tense? He couldn't put a finger on it any more than he could properly describe it to Pyrrha earlier, it was like he was suddenly keyed up on those Grimmjaws again, brimming with manic energy...

They all reflexively checked their scrolls to find with some surprise they had only about 30 minutes left of their 2 hour break, the first round of the Soul Cleanser had been a lot more intensive than they had anticipated.

"Here you go Jauney!" Nora tossed him two large sports jugs of water. "Ren said you'd be needing more water every day so I got you these!"

Jaune's arms snapped up faster than he thought possible and snatched the large plastic jugs out of the air. "Woah!" He looked at his hands gripping the large bottles in shock.

They all looked at him curiously. "H-hey, I guess my reflexes coming back is a good sign, right?" He croaked uneasily. "At least it beats getting a pill bottle in the eye like last night!" He popped the top off the bottle and begun to greedily suck the water out of the first of the large jugs.

Pyrrha looked concernedly at Jaune before peering closer at his hands. They seemed to be not so much twitching as vibrating with an undercurrent of restless energy. "Jaune...are you feeling alright?"

"Y-yeah...J-just feel kinda k-keyed up for some reason..." He responded in a halting tone as the rest of his body was beginning to shift and fidget like Nora did on a daily basis. "Uh...so yeah...we have 30 minutes right? And we have to get this stuff over to Marcus and then the Chem lab right? Lets go now! I'm sure we can make it if we hurry!" He felt like he would explode if he didn't start moving soon, as he tossed the first jug aside and began working on the second, gulping down the water as if it was the last on Remnant.

The rest of them shrugged at Jaune's sudden bounty of energy and decided to get things ready to head out. Concluding that pouring all the contents of the buckets down the drain was probably not a safe idea, they sealed them up and tried to think what to do instead.

"Lets do this for now..." Ren suggested. "We're headed to the Chem lab anyway, they have a hazardous materials storeroom there. We can place the buckets there until we know we won't need them and we can figure out how to safely dispose of them."

"Great!" Jaune yelled with somewhat excessive enthusiasm. "Lets go team Juniper!" With a surge of energy he scooped up all of their book bags and slung them across his shoulders while grabbing two of the buckets and hefting them with seemingly no effort.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called after him but he was already halfway to the door, practically screeching to a halt as he spun.

"Wha-! What? Did I miss something?"

Pyrrha giggled a little before continuing. "Do you know where the chem lab is?"

His mouth dropped open slightly in a comical O before he closed it and formed a look of deep concentration on his face. "No...I guess I don't..."

Ren sighed. "Don't worry about it Jaune, I'll lead the way. Pyrrha, Nora, could you each take a bucket? I'll take these things." He carefully hefted the pile of warning-covered cases.

They set off at a brisk pace, mainly thanks to Jaune. Marching next to Ren he would occasionally surge ahead in a staccato fastwalk as he continued to bear the large load of all of their bookbags and two buckets full of vomit despite his teammates request to at least let them carry their own things.

"It's fine!" He shook his head at them. "I need the exercise anyway, right? Besides, this feels great!" He continued on at his breakneck pace, not taking care to notice how ridiculous he looked. Pyrrha had held back slightly behind Nora but took a moment of Jaune charging forward to move closer to Ren.

"So...I'm not the only one that thinks this is weird, right? Where did Jaune suddenly get all this energy?"

"I don't know..." Ren admitted. "How was he this morning during your workout?"

"Not like this. He barely managed to finish his jog and collapsed midway through calisthenics...what did you put in that tonic? Or...is it some side effect of all that dust we pulled out of him?"

"You saw pretty much everything I put into it when we brought the bags in. Honestly, after everything that's happened today, your guess is as good as mine." He frowned. "And I don't like that. I'm hoping I can find out more about all of this from the Chem lab or that nurse Jaune spoke so highly about." He looked forward at their leader huffing and puffing as he was now jogging ahead of them, seemingly unfazed by the weight he was carrying.

"It's like..." Pyrrha started then stopped. "Yeah..." Ren finished for her. "It's like a sustained combat high or something. I'm sure you're familiar with that." He looked over to her.

"Yes..." She answered distractedly, her gaze too following Jaune's energetic form. "...usually when a match is going well, I fall into it, particularly if it's a group match then it really kicks in...but goddess you pay for it dearly afterwards..."

"Indeed, lets stay close and try to keep up with him. I don't think this is over by a long shot and who knows what his next surprise will be?"

"Quite so." She replied with a determined smile and kicked up her pace to try and catch up with Jaune, Ren and Nora not far behind.


	12. Ch 12 - And then There's THIS Asshole

True to Jaune's word, they managed to offload their respective cargo to the Chem lab and the Infirmary and still have plenty of time left over to get to Oobleck's class. Marcus wasn't on shift yet, but after much convincing on Jaune's part that it was for his "treatment", (and seeing his unsettling appearance) the nurse at the admitting station promised she would deliver the case to his office as soon as possible.

Entering Dr. Oobleck's classroom, they made their way to a group of seats further to the front than they normally used. While class hadn't started yet, the room was fairly small and filled quickly. Seasoned students of Dr. Oobleck knew to get there fairly early to get a good seat furthest away from the front row. Sitting in that no-mans-land guaranteed a mental and verbal assault by the Doctor as he sped around the room rattling points of history off in a caffeinated fury and pouncing on less attentive students with surprise questions.

As they entered, numerous pairs of eyes locked on to Jaune and his team as they made their way to the front row. A wave of whispered mutterings seemed to follow them as they tried to find a seat. Despite his earlier exertions, he hadn't burned off any of that excess twitching energy he was generating, nor had it done anything for his appearance. They had almost made it to their seats without incident, until a familiar yet unwelcome voice cut through the classroom.

"Dead Jaune walking! Holeee shit what hole in the ground did you crawl out of this morning Jauney-boy?" The brash and loud voice of Cardin Winchester carried across the room followed by the loud chuckling coming from the rest of team Cardinal.

Jaune and his team ignored him and finally sat down at their seats. Cardin however didn't seem to be quite done yet and walked down to the front row leaning over the desk where they sat.

"Seriously, Jauney my man, I understand your life was pathetic and totally agree killing yourself was the answer, but at least have the decency to stay dead man! No one wants a Zombie on campus."

Cardin's team continued to think this was hilarious funny, obviously enjoying the latest episode of their leader's favorite pastime: Making Jaune Arc's day a living hell. No one else in the class was laughing or joining in the teasing, but they were watching, eager to see what would happen next.

"Shut up Cardin..." Jaune glared back at him. His voice wasn't yet back to normal since this morning and it came out in a hoarse whisper.

"What was that?" Cardin leaned closer cupping a hand to his ear. "Sorry, didn't catch that, I don't speak dead man." He finished with an angry glare at Jaune's retort.

Jaune balled his fists and began to twitch more erratically. He was having a hard time keeping himself calm as thoughts of decking Cardin across the face danced in his head. He couldn't get into a fight here, not with Oobleck only minutes away from entering that door...but dammit he didn't need this...especially after what he had just been through.

"I said...Shut. Up. Cardin." Jaune enunciated each word with as much anger as he could muster. A small buzzing noise was building in his ears and he wondered how much more of this he could take. The claw that had been ripping apart his insides from earlier had returned, only now it was pricking and stabbing his brain, causing unbidden thoughts to start forming in his head.

_I wonder if I can rip that stupid head from his body...his neck is right there..necks aren't that durable are they?_

He was suddenly jolted out of it by Pyrrha slamming her hands to the desk and jumping up.

"What is your problem Cardin!? Why do you keep picking on him so much, what the hell has he ever done to you?"

Cardin was surprised but recovered quickly, directing his attention to Pyrrha instead. "Awww that's precious, protecting your boyfriend there Nikos? Must be tough having the balls in the relationship. Does he clean up around the dorm for you too or is he as big of a fuckup there as well?

Pyrrha flushed angrily but held her ground. Crossing her arms she smiled wickedly back at him. "No he does just fine. In fact, we have a wall to fix in our dorm but need a hammer. I was thinking your head would fit the bill, you don't seem to be using it for anything important."

A couple of whistles and woops greeted Pyrrha's verbal jab back at Cardin. Ren and Nora had now stood up, ready to hop in if things escalated.

He narrowed his eyes but his sneer didn't falter. "At least I'm not following a weakling for a leader like you are. Seriously, how pathetic are you guys? I'm amazed Jauney-Boy over here hasn't impaled himself with his own sword yet."

"Says the man that knocked his own teammates out three separate times in our group sparring matches this year." She shot back coolly. "Unlike you our team leader actually leads from the front during combat practice instead of just tossing his teammates around like pawns on a chessboard."

Several students were audibly cheering now. A few "Damn!"s were scattered throughout the class. Pyrrha was proving herself to be a world class sparring partner out of the ring as well.

Cardin was scowling now, his sneering smile long gone. This was not going well for him at all. All he wanted to do was push Jaune's buttons a bit before class started, he made it so damn easy. But then that bitch Pyrrha Nikos had to stick her proud nose in it. It wasn't enough that she had taken his team on in that sparring match a few weeks ago 4 vs 1 and still wiped the floor with them, but now she was doing it all over again in front of another classroom full of witnesses. He leaned over towards her with an ugly leer. "You think you're so damn smart don't you? Miss four time Mystral champion. You think you're all high and mighty, lording it all over us. Newsflash, you're not anything special you stupid cunt!"

The room went dead as a tomb as Pyrrha's face drained of color. There was a moment's pause and then several things happened at once.

Nora roared like an Ursa and kicked back her chair. Ren had already vaulted over the desk and made to attack Cardin. Several people started shouting. Pyrrha moved to stop them from their attack when an another angry roar erupted from behind her. In a flash of movement, Jaune had grabbed Cardin's collar and lifted him just far enough off the ground to go onto his tip toes which was an impressive feat given the several inches Cardin had on him.

"YOU ARROGANT PRICK!" Jaune yelled with savage fury. The vile green aura had returned in full force, the toxic mist pulsing outward angrily to match Jaune's mood. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW, YOU FUCKING APOLOGIZE TO HER GODDAMIT!" He had never been so angry in his entire life. It exploded out of him like a dam breaking apart, and all he could think about right now was that he had to rip Cardin's head from his body...

Several nearby students had started to pull back and retch at being so close to Jaune's corrupted aura. Nora's initial rage had vanished and had crouched under the desk, her eyes shut and her hands covering her ears. Pyrrha was pulling on Jaune's shoulder, yelling at him to let go but he ignored her. Cardin meanwhile was simply confused at what had just happened. The shock of Jaune finally fighting back had overridden any fear he should have been feeling at the pale, twisted face snarling back at him. He was about to force Jaune's hands from his shirt when a green blur entered his peripheral vision.

Both heads turned to see the bespectacled green haired face of Dr. Oobleck, their history professor. Perpetually sipping coffee and talking a mile a minute, he had appeared from nowhere in the brief span of seconds that had elapsed since Jaune's outburst.

"Not fighting are we boys I hope that is not the case as it would dreadfully raise the insurance premiums I already have for this room to keep my coffee maker in here Mr Arc please let go of Mr. Winchester so he can return to his seat and you definitely seem like you've been drinking too much coffee my boy, everything in moderation just like I always say please take a 5 minute break if you please but do hurry back we have a class to start and much knowledge to go over!"

Oobleck's rapid fire speech washed over both of them without making a dent of comprehension. Still, he was here and fighting was definitely off the table. Jaune dropped Cardin just as his aura collapsed, creating a pulse of air that washed over the students nearby causing more of them to gag violently. Ignoring the looks he was getting from Cardin and the rest of the class he quickly made his way out of the classroom to the water fountain just down the hallway.

He braced himself against the fountain and took a few tentative sips. _What the shit was that_? The manic energy that had been building since his first tonic session had finally left him like a bathtub drained of water. He groaned as his muscles quivered with fatigue and wondered what else could go wrong today.

"_What indeed Boy...By the way, that was quiet the noble display of chivalry back there, even if it was mainly done by your teammate trying to steal your position..."_

_"_She's not stealing or whatever she was just-" Jaune froze. He looked up from the fountain. Sitting on the steps across the hall leading to the 2nd floor of classrooms sat his shadowy tormentor from his dreams only he was- "What the...what are you doing...?"

"_-outside of our nighttime rendezvous? That is indeed the million lien question is it not?" _It replied with a toothy grin. This shadow copy of Charlemagne was different than the one he was regularly facing in his visions. It was still composed of that intangible shadow, but noticeably clearer somehow. The only thing that hadn't changed were those burning red eyes, even in daylight they shone with a horrid intensity. He shook his head. It couldn't be real he was probably hallucinating, it had to be something like that shouldn't it?

"_Did I not tell you trying to remove them would destroy you boy? Why do you deny these gifts that you yourself have granted? We Arcs may be stubborn but foolhardy is not one of our defining characteristics."_

_"_I told you I won't rely on this stuff! It's corrupted my aura and terrified my friends! How can I possibly continue to keep using it?"

The shadow began to walk around Jaune, lecturing him as if he were a slow pupil. "_You will use it because you have nothing else to offer your team or this school. To continue down this path you seem so set upon will only lead to failure, perhaps worse if today is any indication..."_ He stopped with a smile.

"Worse...How can I possibly get any worse?" He was gripping the fountain for support now as his legs were rapidly losing the ability to support his weight.

"_Well I never did study much of the sciences of the mind, but I believe having conversations with water fountains is not considered healthy behavior. People will whisper, question your sanity, your ability to function as a hunter...or even a regular member of society. And you shall get worse, mark my words. A couple more outbursts like that with that Winchester boy, your trouble sleeping, attacking your own teammates...well, I'm sure you can see where this will lead to..."_

His grin widened. _"You are not the first hunter trainee to suffer a mental breakdown, nor shall you be the last, all hunter academies have contingency plans for just such a thing..."_

_"_I'm not going crazy dammit! It's just this goddamn dust! And you're not real either!"

"_That's the spirit! Now think fast and make sure you convey that to that red haired traitor standing right there!"_ The shadow vanished with a cackle as Jaune spun around from the fountain. Pyrrha was standing there looking worriedly at him.

"Jaune...I came to check on you...are you doing alright? Who were you talking to?"

"N-nothing, no one, just...talking to myself." He lied ashamedly. Why was this happening to him? What angry god or twist of fate had decided that he had to keep eating at the shit trough? He was broken out of his veil of self pity by Pyrrha squeezing his hand.

"Come on Jaune, lets get back to Oobleck's class ok?" Jaune nodded silently and returned her gesture. As they made their way back she looked over to him and smiled. "And I do appreciate you standing up for me like that. That was very gallant of you. Though next time lets pick our locations for duels more carefully shall we? There's always the sparring arena to show what an idiot Cardin is anyway."

He smiled at the thought. Smashing that smug smile off of Cardin's face would be better than all the Dustmas presents he had ever received in his brief life. The faintest bit of hope formed within him, and he began looking forward to Friday's sparring match for the first time since this week began.


	13. Chapter 13 - Meditations on Madness

**Good evening folks and first off let me apologize for the long delay between chapters. Writers block is a bitch let me tell you. I probably redid this chapter at least 6 times trying to get it right, but I decided I'd stick with the latest revision before I was tempted to scrap it and start over, so I do apologize if my writing isn't up to par. I'll endeavor to post chapters more quickly going forward. As always, any and all feedback is appreciated. Please share, fav, comment and review!**

The rest of the day passed in uneventful normalcy compared to how it had started. Despite this calm, Jaune's stomach seemed to regard its existence as an offense, growling and rumbling, clenching and knotting, a pain-filled void within, as Jaune soldiered through each class in turn.

"I swear to god Ren I am going to eat my textbook if I don't get something in me soon..." Jaune grumbled as he slumped over his desk in their last class before lunch.

"I'm sorry Jaune, but there's no point to eating regular food if you're just going to throw it right back up. We have to get your stomach under control first or putting anything new in will just aggravate things further. Lets do another round of tonics during the lunch break, that should get you feeling better." He said smiling with encouragement.

Jaune started to protest but stopped and merely pinched his nose in frustration. Ren was right he knew, but his stomach didn't care. He hadn't had any real food since yesterday, and the tonics seemed to have only made him feel worse. The bell rang a few minutes later and they joined the crowd of students bustling out of the classroom. After brief deliberation, Pyrrha and Nora decided they needed a break from the tonic sessions and headed to the dining hall for lunch instead, promising to bring back some healthy snacks. The plan set, the team split off. Heading back to the dorm with Ren Jaune discussed his experiences so far with the treatment.

"The hallucination troubles me the most." Ren remarked as they made their way up the stairs to their floor. "Generally these symptoms should have been already happening to you before you started treatment, not afterwards. You're sure you were awake when you saw it?"

"Definitely." Jaune nodded. "He was there on the steps and then walked around me taunting me how I'd be thrown into the insane asylum if I kept up with this..." Jaune shook his head and looked at Ren. "You don't think I'm going crazy, do you?"

Ren's stride faltered slightly as he contemplated the question. He returned Jaune's pleading gaze with a serious look. "No Jaune, I don't think you're going crazy. However I don't know much about what's going on here. Obviously it all has something to do with that dust, but...I'm really on unknown ground here. Your symptoms simply don't follow anything I or my family have encountered in treating dust poisoning."

Jaune gave a weak smile. "Sorry about that. I mean the hallucinations freak me the hell out too, but what worries me more is that energy surge I had earlier. I still can't figure out where it came from or how to control it. One moment I'm pissed at Cardin, as usual, then everything went green and all I could think about is ripping his head off."

"Well that _was_ a terrible thing he said..." Ren began but Jaune shook his head.

"No this was different. I'ver been key'd up all morning, ever since taking that first batch of tonic. It felt like I was almost on those Grimmjaws again. And it only got worse the more stressed out I got. Then Cardin shot off his mouth and...well yeah..." Jaune sighed. "Still...I appreciate all you're trying to do at least. Maybe Marcus or someone from the infirmary will come up with something."

"Perhaps, but..." Ren froze mid stride, cocking his head in contemplation just as they reached their dorm room door.

"What? What's wrong?" Jaune said, nearly running into him.

"Go back, describe again again how you were feeling right after you took the tonic and when you were facing Cardin..." Though his face was turned towards Jaune Ren's eyes were slightly out of focus, staring past him and off through the wall beyond.

"Uhh...well it's pretty much like I said. I thought it was maybe just leftover energy from the morning run but I was wound up since right after taking the first one. It was like...I dunno like I was fighting Grimm or in the sparring arena...just completely riding an adrenaline spike. Sorry, don't know how else to describe it..."

"An you say it got worse when you were more excited?"

"Yeah, definitely. As soon as Cardin insulted Pyrrha I just..." He shuddered as he recalled the dark thoughts swarming his mind. "...I just exploded. Just pure anger, hatred...no control."

"Hmmm..." Ren's eyes were moved slowly back and forth as his scroll hovered frozen near the keypad.

"Care to cut me in on that brainwave, Ren?"

"Sorry, just thinking..." He waved his scroll to open the door to the dorm. The smell from their earlier session was gone, thankfully replaced by the warm breeze coming through the open windows. "I'm wondering..." Ren sat down at his desk with the rest of the tonic bottles, and closed his eyes.

Jaune sighed and fetched another bottle of water from the fridge. He walked back to his bed and sat down, taking gulps from the bottle as he went. Having been teammates for nearly a year, Jaune knew when it was time to keep quiet and wait for Ren to finish his mental gymnastics. Sitting and waiting Jaune wondered idly wondered how Ren managed to do that when Nora was around. Probably distracted her with something shiny he thought with a silent chuckle.

Ren finally opened his eyes and stood up. "Ok...I have an idea. Let's try something." Walking to the kitchen he returned with a clean bucket and another batch of tonic. "Jaune come over here please." He motioned to a spot in front of the bucket. Sitting as Ren had requested, Jaune reached over for the bottle of tonic but Ren held up his hand and shook his head.

"Not yet, I want you to try something first." He sat down on the other side of the bucket and crossed his legs. "Now then, have you ever tried meditation?"

"Uhhh...Well not really. That's what you do all the time when you sit quietly with your eyes closed? I guess it's like, relaxing or something?"

"In a way." Ren nodded slightly. "More than that, however, meditation is the art of controlling your mental and emotional state. When you meditate you are training to master your mind just as fighting and training with Pyrrha teaches you to master your body. Do you understand so far?"

"I think so..." Jaune said slowly. "So, it's like a workout...but for your head?"

"Less so a workout and more a forced vacation. You are essentially teaching your mind to remove all distractions so that you can focus more effectively."

"And...this will help with the tonics how...?" Jaune replied in mild confusion.

"From what I've seen it would appear that the dust is reacting violently to your body undergoing stress." Ren explained patiently. "The more excited you get, the worse it reacts, creating a negative feedback loop. Your nightmares, the confrontation with Cardin, and so on. Everything you've described to me and what we've seen so far is consistent with this hypothesis."

"So...you're saying that my getting stressed out is somehow, activating the dust inside of me?" Jaune asked tentatively, still a bit confused.

"Exactly. What I want to try here is to see if calming your mind will help stabilize your aura. If we can figure out a way to keep your mind and body calm during these tonic sessions and your training, we can hopefully minimize the severity of the attacks or even avoid them altogether."

Jaune spread his arms out eagerly. "Alright, well, where do I sign up?!" The thought of being able to combat the visions alone was enough to make him want to give it a try, regardless of the potential difficulties.

"Excellent We shall begin now." Ren sat up straighter and took a deep breath. "I'm not expecting you to grasp the finer points of meditation in a single session so we'll just start with the basics. Take deep cleansing breaths and focus on keeping a regular pace with each one." He demonstrated with a deep slow breath. "In...and...out..."

Jaune did as he was told. Closing his eyes he began to breathe deeply. It was erratic at first. His initial attempts hampered by a few shuddering gasps as his residual twitchiness from earlier was still present. After a few tries, though, he managed to settle into a smooth pattern of calm breathing.

"Ok I think I got it, what do I do-?" Jaune began but was cut off.

"Do not stop Jaune." Ren admonished him quietly. "Continue your breathing until I tell you otherwise."

Jaune reddened slightly and bowed his head to refocus his efforts. It was another few moments before he recovered his rhythm.

They were quiet for several minutes. No sound could be heard aside from the warm breeze ruffling the curtains and the slow breathing of the two trainee hunters sitting on the floor.

"Now..." Ren spoke in a hushed whisper. "...I want you to focus your mind and find your Anchor. It will guide you and protect you from what is to come..."

"What...does that mean exactly?" Jaune whispered awkwardly between slow breaths.

"...Your serenity. Focus on the things that bring you peace and happiness in your life. Memories that put you at ease, or the ones you focus on before drifting off to sleep. These will be your Beacon. Your Anchor."

Jaune's breathing paused for the briefest of moments. A peaceful thought? Coming to Beacon had obliterated any concept of "peaceful" from his life. Quiet time here was for studying, reading combat training manuals or something else just as decidedly un-peaceful, at least compared to his childhood. He shook his head and tried to resume his breathing. Casting his mind about for something to match Ren's instructions his thoughts drifted further back, going deep into the dusty halls of his past.

_...The earliest Dustmas he could remember...he had received a toy sword as a present...his sisters giggling as he swung it about..._

_...Hot Cocoa in front of a warm fire...snow falling outside the window...reading a book of fairy tales under a soft blanket..._

_...The forest by his home, climbing trees, resting on a branch and watching the sun filter through the canopy of leaves..._

Once he was started the memories continued to flow through him like a slow creek. One by one he recalled them, simpler times, happier times, drawing them to him and building a quiet, happy sanctuary in his mind and letting the current fill the pools with a cool, relaxing bliss. It felt good. Really good. He'd definitely have to do this more often.

The pond swelling around him he swam gently through the current, through more memories, more recent ones now. _The acceptance letter from Beacon...Crocea Mors being presented to him by his Father...Meeting Ruby...Successfully completing initiation...Meeting Pyrrha for the first time..._

_...Pyrrha..._

The stream shifted as the banks flexed and reshaped themselves.

_That first awkward attempt at recruiting her with Weiss_ ..._Their talk on the roof...His first training session under her guidance...The dance...The hug from this morning...Her warm smile...Her jade green eyes..._

His sanctuary was Pyrrha, her eyes, smile and fiery red hair the decorations. A warm blush had spread up his cheeks and the tiniest of smiles began to form on his lips. He was immediately thankful Ren couldn't read minds...or least he hoped he couldn't. To be lost in those eyes, to see that smile again and to know it was for him alone, he would do anything to repeat the experience.

"Have you found your anchor Jaune?" Ren's voice sounded faint, an interruption but not a disruption towards Jaune's serenity.

"Yes..." Jaune replied distractedly. Dimly aware that he was still sitting on the floor of their dorm, he felt a small bottle pressed into his hand.

"Ok, take the first part of the tonic." Ren instructed quietly.

Still focusing on his daydream of Pyrrha, Jaune slowly undid the stopper of the bottle and drank the clear liquid. The familiar numbing sensation returned, spreading slowly from his head, down to his stomach. Already in a relaxed state, the liquid blended with the river of his sanctum as it coursed through him. It formed swirls and eddies but the calm, unrelenting power of his gathered memories was stronger, the waters slowly calming around him once more. After another minute of controlled breathing while the last of his nerves unwound, he felt something again placed into his hand.

"Now..." A disembodied whisper called from the darkness. "...the second part Jaune..." Slowly sinking into the waters of his sanctuary Jaune vaguely recalled he was supposed to do something but his thoughts came slow and he had trouble taking action. Fumbling the item with his now numbed hands he felt the contours of the bottle and remembered. Slowly he opened it brought it to his lips. Tilting it back he let the liquid flow over his tongue, while in his sanctum he opened his mouth, the waters of tranquil memory filling his lungs as the familiar burning sensation returned.

_Pyrrha danced through his mind. Ripples of happy thoughts swirled around him as he floated through the gentle current, content to let it carry him wherever it would take him. He craved more. Twisting to face downwards he gave a kick, diving further into warm depths, tracking the line of memory ike a salmon tracing a hidden current home. He swam for what felt like eternity, time having lost all meaning in this most pleasant of respites. Surely there was more...there had to be...maybe around here?...where was here?...and why...the currents were changing...shifting...darkening. His memories of Pyrrha's face were losing focus and clarity in the darkening depths. Without warning violent currents lashed against the defenses of his sanctuary sending him into a tumble and slamming him into the sides._

_Thrust back above the waterline he found himself in churning rapids, . Worries and doubts appeared as rocks and twists in his path, churning disturbing the tranquil eden he had created. The sanctuary was crumbling apart, the happy thoughts splashing away into mist, the water laced with more and more oily black tendrils of nightmare. Caught in the current he was flung over a waterfall, twisting momentarily in the air before plunging back into the water, the weight of the river pouring over him and pushing him down into cold darkness. All around him fragments of Pyrrha were dissolving into nothingness, diluted by a torrent of fears and regrets. Frantically he grabbed the last remaining shard of Pyrrha...their first sunset training session on the roof together. He clutched it close, focusing on the momory...she turned to face him one last time. _

_The oily blackness enveloped him. Emerald eyes were replaced with dead white orbs. They locked with his and a mouth filled with too many sharp teeth gaped open. _

_"You will never have me Jaune Arc..._

_The image shattered. Giving in to despair he let the crumbled remains of the memory slip from his fingers, surrendering to the inky depths._

A surge of nausea violently yanked him out of his crumbling reverie. Retching he pitched forward over the bucket and heaved more bile out of his stomach. Finishing, he spat a few times, then slumped against a bedpost, wide eyes leaking tears and gasping for breath.

"That was much better Jaune! Well done." Ren called out . He examined the contents and nodded with some satisfaction before looking up. "How are you feeling?" He asked then frowned.

It had to have been a trick of the light, or perhaps he had imagined it. But for the briefest of moments he could have sworn Jaune's eyes had flashed...green?

"How was that better? I still threw up, and I still feel like crap!" Jaune snapped back angrily, his voice hoarse, his throat raw from the acidic contents of his stomach.

Ren cocked an eyebrow. "You didn't notice? I'm surprised, you must have been deeper in your mind than I thought."

"W-what are you talking about!?" Jaune groaned in irritation, hunching over as a fresh wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm him.

"I mean that this was your mildest tonic session so far. I could feel almost no presence of that unnatural aura until right before you broke your meditation. You also expelling significantly less dust than before. Look." He pointed down to the bucket and Jaune followed, crinkling his nose at the nasty contents. Ren was right, though, despite the same evil looking color and smell, there was hardly enough to even coat the bottom.

"Wow...that's...a lot less than I was expecting..."

"I think we're almost done cleaning out your digestive system. At this rate you'll be on regular food again before the day's end." Ren smiled. "Do you feel the meditation helped?"

"K-kind of..." Jaune stammered as he slumped back against the bed, still trying to come to terms with what he had just seen. How had such a happy thought been turned against him? It didn't make any sort of sense. Weren't happy thoughts supposed to be calming like Ren said? Didn't he say meditation would help _stop_ visions from occurring? What the hell happened here? Maybe he just hadn't done it right, this had been his first attempt, after all.

"...It kind of helped...at least at first." Reflexively evasive he avoided Ren's eyes. "I lost focus midway through...and things got out of control I guess..."

"I noticed. That green aura started coming back right before you woke up. What did you see? What were you focusing on for your Anchor?"

Jaune opened his mouth then stopped. The twisted vision of Pyrrha had once again darkened his thoughts. How was he supposed to talk about this with Ren? He was his teammate sure, but the thought of trying to discuss his feelings about Pyrrha with him was on a level worse than talking about his sister's disastrous love life, and that was mortifying enough.

"Uh...you know...uh...stuff from my childhood, you know running around my house, playing with my sisters, that kind of thing." He mumbled, still looking at the floor.

Ren nodded thoughtfully. "That's good, the earliest memories often form the strongest anchors, particularly those of family. With further practice you should be able to maintain better control of yourself." He paused,. "Do you...feel up for another round? You've already done several sessions today, we don't have to do another until later if you don't-"

Jaune quickly wiped his face and shifted his position, his jaw set with a familiar determination. "No. I'm fine. Really, lets do this." He held out his hand awaiting the next bottle, locking eyes with his teammate.

Ren narrowed his eyes. There it was, he wasn't imagining it this time...Jaune's eyes were turning the same shade as...

Ren looked down into the bucket then back up. The first pangs of doubt were whispering urgently in the back of his mind. Warning him. Was it wise to keep going? Jaune's efforts didn't seem to be having as big of an effect as he had hoped, if anything they seemed to be making things worse. The veins, pale skin...and now his eyes. Maybe he should stop here, it would be the safer thing to do. On the other hand, this had been a productive session, it couldn't hurt to try again if Jaune was willing wouldn't it? Maybe help guide him instead of letting him go it alone...

"Alright, Jaune we'll try one more time then take a break. I'm going to assist your efforts this time before you take the tonic. Resume your sitting position as before." He pointed to the spot by the bucket. Jaune took up the spot and closed his eyes, awaiting Ren's next command.

"Close your eyes and begin your breathing as I instructed...let the troubles of the world, of Beacon, even of your team, drift away. They don't concern you right now. Your world does not exist outside of this room..."

Jaune closed his eyes and tried to resume his breathing. He was becoming increasingly aware of how ragged it was. Every puff of air scratched his throat like sandpaper...

"Now...focus on the beating of your heart...it is the source of life and of aura and it is the core of being..."

If anything shifting his attention to his heart was even worse, not only did it race but it it was twitching so bad...every other beat seemed to skip a step...even sitting down. It didn't feel like it belonged to him, something else was living inside his chest, foreign and evil.

"Focus on the sound of my voice. Use it as a guide to your inner self, focus on nothing else but the sound-"

"_-of my voice..."_

Ren's voice was outside and within. There was something else as well... lurking...

"Calm mind..."

He was in control, it was his mind! Not anything else!

"...serene heart..."

Find the sanctuary...had to find the sanctuary again...he would be safe there...

"...all that remains...is fear..."

Jaune's breath hitched in his throat. Fear. What was he afraid of? Better question. What wasn't he afraid of?

"_Would you like a list...?"_

"Fear can be overcome, the strength you need isn't somewhere far off..."

"..._it's inside you..."_

Jaune clenched his eyes shut. No, not this time! He focused with all of his might on his breathing. He would not be denied. Not again...

"Fear can never be truly destroyed Jaune, but we must also guard against letting it control us. Fear can motivate and inspire, but unchecked it can weaken and destroy all it touches..."

"_I know your fears..."_

"Your anchor will only be as strong as your ability to face your fears, to control them, and to surpass them...take the tonic...find your anchor...and guard it well..."

The familiar shape of the bottle was once again in his hand. The sensation of numbing cold followed by burning fire gushed across his tongue and down his throat. The tonic took hold, and he dove back within himself.

_It was different now. The pool was smaller, shallower than before. Empty of everything...what could he find now...? First...must build the sanctuary...build it to protect, build it to guard your Anchor, then go look for it!_

_But he had to find an Anchor as well, didn't he? Why build a sanctuary if there was nothing to occupy it? Stupid question. Distraction. there had to be a happy memory here somewhere. Just had to focus. _

_There...tucked in the far recesses, he pulled a soggy, decaying school book from a small puddle. Covered in brown paper, scribbles in the margins, frayed dog eared pages...what was this-_

_He was playing with his friends from his elementary school. Such a nice warm day just before summer. They were playing tag and he evaded his friends easily. He wasn't the strongest but he was fast. He'd head to the jungle gym! The warm current helped him run along, no one could catch him now! He'd be up top and-_

_A loud shout. A scream. He turned._

_Beowulves swarmed across the playground. Roiling with dark shadows and murderous red eyes, they fell upon his old friends from the school, ripping them apart. Chasing him, now. Climb the jungle gym, that will keep them away. That will save him! That will-NO! They were too close! Snatching at his heels. Pulling him off! This wasn't-_

_"You could have saved them you know...those were simply Beowulves, hardly anything really...if you had just used it..."_

_No! The book burned to ashes in his hands, embers scattering in the dark halls. He ran._

_Another one! He had to find another one. He scrambled amongst the pools inside a decaying ruin. It was different now. Decrepit. Weakened. The cracked walls were barely standing, oozing black slime through hundreds of fissures. Columns groaned under the strain of the darkness beyond the walls. Surely there was something here, something pure to hold on to. Something worth protecting!_

_"Protect? You? Hah!...you can't even prevent me from running roughshod over this pitiful excuse you call for a mind boy...why do you keep trying to fight me? We could be so much more you and I, something worthy of our Birthright-"_

_There! A letter! It had been folded and unfolded so many times it hung limp in his hand, the edges worn and frayed from so many handlings. This was-_

_Jean was visiting back from Beacon! He was so excited and happy to see her. The letters from her first year sounded so incredible. He really wanted to see that award she said she received. Best Huntress as a first year? That was crazy! A knock at the door...that had to be her!...Running down the stairs, ignoring the protests from his mother he flung the door open. An Ursa loomed menacingly at the doorstep. But...Ursas didn't come down this far from the northern ridges did they? Why was it here? Where was his sister? The Ursa roared and charged, tearing through the house as Jaune tried to get away. He threw every obstacle he could as he scrambled away. Doors, furniture, it mattered not. The Ursa continued to charge through the house, bits of masonry and drywall flying everywhere as it smashed from room to room, inching closer with every moment, its vile breath singing his back._

_Jaune burst from the back door and ran towards the river. He'd escape there, though the forest! He'd climb a tree, get away, be somewhere safe! But...the bridge...It was gone! What was he going to do? The Ursa was upon him in his hesitation. The claws rent his flesh as he was thrown into the icy waters-_

_"How pathetic...suborning yourself to a woman._ _You're weak, boy. Always have been. Though I suppose your father should shoulder a portion of the blame. Only seemed able to produce girls, in spite of himself. Still, one must eventually take personal responsibility and on that count there are no excuses for your weakness._"

_As the voice berated him the the letter twisted in Jaune's hand, sinking large fangs into his flesh. _

_"GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME!"_

_He tore the letter away, taking with it long slices from his palm. Rivulets of blood sprayed from the open wounds, scattering about and staining the ground a deep crimson wherever they fell. The sanctuary would not hold. He would be pulled yet again into the madness. He couldn't go back. It was too much! Why couldn't they just leave him alone?_

_"But where would I go boy? I am part of you, as much as you strive to deny it. Do you think our history can be washed away with a prayer and asimple alchemical concoction?"_

_A rumble rattled the sanctum and rippled through his body. Shaking with unbridled energy, the sanctuary quivered under the sustained assault. Something was coming, crashing against the increasingly frail walls. Already the world was cracking under the stress...what was out there? He had to find something to hold onto. Something that would strengthen him..._

_Looking around he saw her. She stood on a dais in the middle of the largest pool. Her golden armor and fiery hair radiating brightly in the dim gloom of his decrepit, disintegrating refuge._

_"Pyrrha..."_

_She turned to him, smiling that warm smile that always managed to melt him where he stood. She would protect him, she would be his Anchor... _

_He ran to her, stumbling and tripping over the broken ground, the dark mud moistened with his blood pulling at his boots. He was almost there. Just a bit further...he splashed through a shallow pool only for it to prove far deeper than it appeared. Freezing water rushed over his head, shocking him and choking his mouth with biting cold. Frantically shedding his armor he thrashed his way to the surface, clawing his way up and towards Pyrrha, he had to reach her, had to find her._

_A strong gloved hand appeared, slender fingers digging into his shoulder to pull him up from the depths. Sopping wet and panting he was face to face with her once again, her smile warm and inviting, jade eyes twinkling with bottomless strength and endless mirth. This was where he would be, his anchor was here, there was no reason to search further. _

_"Relying on that traitorous wench yet again, boy?" the voice returned, mocking him from beyond the darkness. "How will you ever get stronger if you keep depending on her power? Reliance on others is weakness, a crutch that will be kicked away when your weight leans on it the most. Better to cast it, her away before she can abandon you.."_

_Jaune snarled and whipped around, searching for the source of the taunting._ _"That's not true! Not anymore! I've gotten a lot stronger. And I'll keep getting stronger!"_

_"Ah, but at what cost? That girl, Pyrrha. What has it cost her to make you strong? Long nights of practice that could have been spent honing her own craft are instead wasted on you. Long hours helping you study. Keeping your head above water when she should have let you drown. What has saving you cost her? She could have been great had she been paired with anyone else. ANYONE else. But now? . . . Well, even you can imagine what a detriment that divided focus will cause her in the upcoming exam..."_

_A gasp. A whimper. "Jaune..." A new voice, softer, coming from behind him. Afraid. In pain._

_He turned back to face her. Blood trickled down her face from a deep gash over her eyebrow, her circlet cracked and bent. The once immaculate armor was dented and scorched like she had been through a war. One arm hung loosely to her side, bent at an impossible angle, broken and useless. Her spear Miló lay broken at her feet, the complex shifting mechanism in pieces scattered all over the place._

_"Pyrrha!" Jaune reached out to comfort her, to protect her but she flinched from his grasp. _

_"Jaune...why do you make things so hard for me? Why can't you improve more quickly?" She cried. Equal parts anger and hurt tinged her voice as she glared at him._

_"Pyrrha! I'm trying! I really am! You have to believe me! You've helped me so much, I'm so much better because of-"_

_"It's not good enough Jaune...it was never enough..." More wounds bloomed on her body... skin discoloring with bruises, bright lines opening across her flesh as if from an invisible knife. "You can't protect me, you can't protect our team, you can't even protect yourself. Why should I bother with you anymore...?"_

_A booming laugh thundered through the chamber. "Well well well...even she has abandoned you boy! What does that leave you with? No, don't bother answering, I'll show you myself!"_

_From the darkness in front of Jaune exploded a torrent of brackish water and crumbling masonry . All around him the sanctuary was falling away leaving only the platform he stood upon with Pyrrha. _

_That nightmarish tormentor of his dreams advanced from out of the darkness, gliding across the water at the head of a fel army. Shadowy mockeries of Jaune's comrades surged forward, their bodies twisted, limbs bent and fused with their weapons in unholy union. The figure drew up before Jaune as its entourage fanned out around the dais, cutting off every avenue of escape. The corrupt stench of their breath hanging in the air the demonic doppelgangers of his comrades leered at him with fiery red eyes and rictus grins_

_"Now then, is time you truly understood what power lies within you. No more can you deny this last chance of potential, that which would empower you to crush all who stand before you, to never fail another mission. This foolishness stops now."_

_The shadows pressed inward, forcing Jaune to retreat to the center of the dais, the edge crumbling away as he and Pyrrah retreated. "Stay back you freak! I've fought you before. I'll fight you again!" He proclaimed, trying to draw courage from somewhere, another memory, anything to fight this-_

_"I think not boy. There' wil be no more of that nonsense. I have shown far too much patience gracing you with the diplomatic approach, it is time for more direct action. Pyrrha! If you would." The nightmare Charlemagne snapped his fingers, the sound rippling through the air like his arm breaking during his first sparring session with Cardin._

_Cold leather clad hands grasped his neck from behind, pushing him down. His legs were kicked out from under him, forcing him forward into a kneeling position, his face hanging over the edge of the dais to stare into the darkness below. As quickly his head was yanked back, bringing him face-to-face, with the pale, lifeless gaze of what had once been his Anchor..._

_"Pyrrha...what? You can't...!"_

_"Embrace the power within you Jaune...it's the only way..."_ _Her voice was hollow, lacking any of the warmth it contained in life, cracked lips peeling back into a smile that was anything but friendly._

_"Well said young spartan!" Boomed Charlemagne as he advanced closer. The ancient was upon him now and Jaune could feel the oppressive smoldering heat from his eyes._

_"Get ready, boy, today is the first day of your awakening. Today, you take the first step in fulfilling your legacy, to truly become an Arc!" _

_Held fast by a mix of fear and Pyrrah's unbreakable grasp Jaune knelt helpless as a shadowy claw clamped around Jaune's skull. Another slammed into his chest, probing fingers digging past his ribs to begin pulling a pair of slimy green chains from his torso. Pain seared across him as the demon extracted each hellish link. Jaune tried to cry out, but the sound died in his throat, the last of his strength abandoning him. Jaune could only stare into the burning eyes of Charlemagne, silently begging for release from the torment. If the shadow heard his pleas, it took no notice as it grasped the ends of the writhing chains and pulled._

_He tried to struggle against his captors as the chains were brought closer to his face but his twisting only served to bring the broken Pyrrah back into view, the sight of his beacon, his anchor, his love, looking back at him with such malice, her benevolent beauty twisted and corrupted, broke him and he wilted. He looked away, the agony as the chains were pulled forth a welcome distraction from the far worse pain of betrayal._

_He watched as the undulating ends formed into a pair of thrashing angry serpents. Acid green fangs dripped with venom as they hissed and snapped in front of him. Eyes widening in terror, he reflexively tried to jerk himself back but was stopped by Pyrrha's vice-like grip. Fear had completely overtaken him now, it saturated his limbs as he he cowered in the grasp of his captors. Before Jaune could rally his spirits for another attempt at breaking free the chained serpents surged forward and sunk their fangs deep into his neck. _

_He gasped in pain as the searing venom entered his body. At once his vision clouded as his mind succumbed to the quiet darkness coursing into him. What little mobility he had left grew sluggish...his body responding slower than before. The numbness spread and the pain began to fade...like falling into a warm bath at the end of a long day..._

_...Maybe...maybe this wouldn't be so bad..._

_"You will learn true strength today boy..." The spectral voice of Charlemagne boomed as Jaune's world exploded into light, and pain, always pain._

_Jaune screamed._

Ren's eyes snapped open as a spike of aura slammed into his head hard enough to snap it back and make his joints pop. Stumbling backwards out of his sitting position, he quickly righted himself and looked across to his teammate. "Jaune? What's going on? Are you ok?" He called out in alarm. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled as a familiar yet unwelcome feeling of dread crawled up his spine.

Jaune slowly raised his head and opened his eyes. Acid green orbs stared back as a crooked smile spread across Jaune's face.

"I feel wonderful..."

**(Author's notes)**

**Uh oh...things are getting weird(er) aren't they? **

**As a bit of a different tack this time, I was asked by some folks what music I listen to when writing. I tend to focus on soothing/rythmic tunes, usually without vocals that lend themselves to being looped over and over again to kind of calm myself down when trying to write things out. I don't really have any particular genre I follow, basically anything with a good beat. I'll post the titles to some of my favorites below (you can find them on youtube, can't post the links here). As always , thank you for the feedback and support. It does really mean a lot to me. **

**Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones**

**The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel**

**Magic - Mystery Skulls**

**Deadman's Gun - Red Dead Redemption Soundtrack**

**Vibrational Ecstasy - Isaac Sprintis**

**Tessa - Transformers 4 Soundtrack**

**In Hushed Whispers - Dragon Age Inquisition Soundtrack (Easily my favorite of the entire bunch, if you need to write a sad/haunting scene, this will be your rocket fuel)**

**Haunted Ocean - Waltz with Bashir Soundtrack**

**Finding the Director - RVB Season 10 Soundtrack (Another great one for soothing/sad moments)**

**Soul Clef XI - RVB Season 12 Soundtrack**

**Chorus - RVB Season 12 Soundtrack **

**Itvara - Fractal**

**Same Side - Fractal**

**Breath - Fractal **

**Luminate - Fractal**

**Champions - Fractal**

**Blast Furnace Theme (Extended) - Street Fighter IV Soundtrack**

**Decapre's Theme (Extended)**** \- Street Fighter IV Soundtrack**

**Hugo's Theme (Extended)**** \- Street Fighter IV Soundtrack**


	14. Chapter 14 - Soulshatter

**Author's Note - Good morning/evening everyone! We return to the crazy world of Remnant and the even crazier world going on with Jaune! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter as I'm sure you'll see. Fair warning for the squeamish, this is a very violent, combat-heavy chapter and there is a fair amount of violence a tiny bit of gore thrown in. Fair weather folks have been warned. Once again thanks to the stellar editing help of Michael C and Blood Shinobi (check out his RWBY Fic Stay Afloat for a very cute Nora/Pyrrha fic) for helping me tighten the wording and the combat together. I also updated chapter 4, 5, 11 and 13 with their edits as well. ( I swear I'm going to stop going back and re-editing posted sections, I promise!)**

**Anyhow, that's enough talk out of me, please enjoy the chapter and be sure to like/fav/review, I appreciate it as always!**

* * *

Lie Ren was not a boastful man. Not one to brag or show off his depth of knowledge unless asked he still considered himself more knowledgeable than most at Beacon about the usage of dust and auras. And well he should, at a time most young kids were learning to play with toys his parents had already guided him in the path to unlocking his aura.

An eager student of the family trade, by the time he was of the age to enter his first combat school, he had already learned numerous applications of dust at his Father's knee. Thus, he entered Beacon with an assured confidence of having more experience with dust or manipulating aura than all of the first years put together.

He never said any of this out loud of course. For Lie Ren was not a boastful man. However much he prided himself on his depth of knowledge it mattered not a whit as he faced a living embodiment of his ignorance sitting across from him. Ren knew that a person's aura was capable of many things, he had performed many of them himself, but never before had he considered the possibility of an aura so oppressive and foul as he now beheld. Were his own aura not stalwartly holding it back, part of him feared he would be physically choked by the vileness, a thought so ludicrous that 24 hours ago he would have dismissed the possibility entirely. He didn't have much energy to dwell on that now however, as nearly all of his stamina was devoted to holding back the dark tide threatening to overwhelm him. At the center of the miasma sat Jaune, or perhapse it was merely a grinning demon wearing Jaune's skin, Ren was unsure quite where reality and illusion intersected.

"You're looking a bit worn out there Ren..." Jaune commented in an eerily calm voice, a soft tone that belied the violent aura surrounding him. "...you getting enough sleep? I hear that's important, though I suppose I wouldn't know myself as of late." Jaune smiled and slid to his feet, sending another pulsing wave of nauseating aura through the room. "That's going to change though. Starting today."

Ren gritted his teeth as the wave of revulsion passed over him. "W-what do you mean Jaune?" He gasped. The mere act of speaking had cost him dearly, splitting his attentions and he felt his aura falter against the continued onslaught.

"Well for starters I'm going to stop taking those damn tonics of yours. I know we only just started playing with them, but quite frankly they make me feel like shit. This..." He flexed his arm experimentally. "...this feels much better."

"Can't...stop..." Ren croaked out quietly. Sweat dripped down his face as he struggled to stay conscious. Where were Nora and Pyrrha? Surely lunch had to have finished, they should be on their way here by now...

"What? You're going to try and stop me?" The thing that was his friend laughed, "That's rich, considering you can barely keep yourself standing. But I guess you're all used to pushing me around. Always reminding me how weak I was." Jaune waved dismissively. "Whatever, I've got more important things to take care of anyway."

"What?"

Jaune walked over to his bed and began donning the weapon, shield and armor he had removed before the tonic session. Satisfied that everything was in its proper place he turned back towards Ren, flashing the same unsettling grin.

"What am I going to do? Simple. I'm going to eliminate a threat. I'm probably going to be paired up with Cardin in that sparring match coming up at the end of next week. Not much of a surprise coming from that old hag Goodbitch. She always pairs me with him, like some sick recurring joke." He scowled, his aura somehow darkening even further to match his now dour expression.

Jaune lowered his voice to a growl. "So...I'm going to remove him from the equation. I'm going to teach that smug asshole his place, teach him the respect, the fear, owed to one of my station. I want him to feel what it's like be on the receiving end for once." Boiling green eyes locked with Ren's wide magenta gaze as he continued.

"I think I'll start by slicing out his Achilles tendon. Maybe just one leg or both I dunno, we'll see how entertaining it is the first time. I'll make the rest of his team watch too. They only follow him because he's the biggest bully in Beacon. I figure watching their leader flop around on the ground like a beached fish should change their minds. After all, no point in following a cripple is there?" He shrugged in bemusement then laughed. The mirthless cackle filled Ren's stomach with a cold dread and made the hairs on his neck twitch.

Once again "Jaune's" expression turned dark as he continued. "That will just be the prelude however – they stood with him in his petty triumphs, so let them reap in his defeat as well. I think I'll give them each special treatment – a personalized punishment is always the best lesson don't you think?"

"I think I'll do them alphabetically, so after Cardin that would be Dove's turn, right? He's so fond his Gunsword, I wonder how well he'd handle it with all of his fingers broken? Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap." He spat the words out, a rythmic tattoo, his grin widening with each repitition. "Russell next... hmm, maybe scalp that stupid mohawk off his head with those daggers he loves so much. Sky shouldn't even be a threat after that, he'll probably be shitting himself while I get my point across with the rest of them, but it would be wrong to leave him out... what do you think I should do? What does he deserve?"

It was all Ren can do to hold himself up against the constant pressure of Jaune's aura, a hint of fear creeping into his gaze.

"Hmm, at a loss for words?" Jaune shrugged, continuing on as he meandered towards the door of the dorm room. "Well I'm sure I'll think of something – maybe take a page from our dear friend Nora and break his legs? That would teach him to abandon his team. A bit similar to what I'll have done to his leader, but maybe that's appropriate? Or should I mix it up? Pluck out one of those pretty blue eyes of his, rip off his forefingers and nail them to his head like bunny ears? I'll come up with something..."

Jaune suddenly smacked his fist into his palm. "...and just like that, Cardin and team CRDL are no longer a problem in my life! Or yours, too, I suppose..."

Ren couldn't believe what he was hearing. Jaune, his team leader and someone with timidity second only to Velvet was discussing mutilating and crippling an entire team, not just casually, but with anticipatory zeal. Things had gotten far more dangerous than he originally thought. He needed Nora and Pyrrha. He had to buy more time.

"Jaune...you can't...you'll...be expelled..." Each word was it's own battle, the effort nearly causing him to lose focus on his aura.

Jaune's eyes narrowed. "Really? You think so? Because the way I see it, I doubt Cardin would want the rest of Beacon to find out my scrawny ass beat the ever living shit out of him AND his team would he? Especially after what Pyrrha did to them the arena? Nah, he's got an ego that's even more gargantuanly oversized than that mace of his, and I'm counting on it to make sure what I do gets explained away as a training accident. That is unless-" He turned at the sound of Ren unsheathing Stormflower with trembling hands.

Jaune's aura bristled at the new threat and scowled. "I figured you wouldn't let me go without a fight. Tell you what, out of recognition of your... friendship..." The way he spoke it the word sounded like a curse, "...I'll let you have the first hit. Come on..." He smacked the front of his breastplate. "...show me what ya got Ren!"

Before either could make a move, a shrill trilling noise rang throughout the room. Jaune took a step back in surprise as he looked around for the source of the disturbance.

"What the-?" Jaune reached for his scroll pad as it vibrated on his belt. Pulling it open he looked down at the screen then back at Ren. "You sonfa-!"

Ren surged forward before Jaune could react, pivoting as he advanced to lash out with a vicious spinning kick. Boosted by a last second surge of aura, the kick connected with the side of Jaune's head to send him crashing over his bed and slam against the already damaged wall. The abused drywall shattered and Juane smashed through to the interior framework amidst a shower of dust. Ren sunk to one knee gasping for breath. That attack had almost cost him all that he had left. He hoped that kick was enough because if it wasn't-

"Nnnnghh...not ba' er Ren!" Jaune groaned out from inside the hole. Plaster and drywall crunched loudly as a dusty hand reached up, fingers gripping a still-standing support stud.

_Dammit._

Jaune was already pulling himself up and out of the wall. Shaking off chips of drywall from his shoulders he stepped over the bed. Taking the center of the room once again Jaune stood smiling, an expression made even more disturbing by his lower jaw hanging open at an odd angle. Locking eyes with Ren Jaune reached up and, with a sickening crunch, re-seated his dislocated jawbone back into place. Working his mouth a few times he smiled even wider, a bruise already starting to spread over the left side of his face.

"Nice try! I'd give that an A+ for effort, but now it's MY turn."

Gritting his teeth in exertion, Ren tried to stand, forcing himself back to his feet through sheer willpower under the crushing weight of Jaune's aura. Even before Jaune reached him the vile aura surged like a tidal wave, physically pushing Ren backwards.

Forgoing weapons Jaune lashed out with his fists, swinging wildly in as he charged forward in a furious assault. The uncontrolled nature of the attack was all that saved Ren as he managed to dodge out of the way, stumbling and barely avoiding having his head taken off by a wide roundhouse. Unencumbered by armor he was still faster than Jaune, weak as he was, but after barely evading a second attack he knew he couldn't maintain it for much longer. His mind screamed with agony as each dodged punch sent waves of caustic aura tearing through his senses and weakened his muscles.

"Jaune! Stop!" He dived backwards away from another monstrous punch and tried for one last effort to appeal to whatever was left of Jaune's sanity. "I'm your teammate!"

Jaune stopped his advance for a moment, his aura still shimmered angrily around him, distorting the air. "We can stop this anytime you want Ren! All you have to do is be a good little team member and step aside to let your leader walk out that door..."

Ren gagged as a wave of nausea surged from his stomach. "Y-you know I can't...can't let you do that...that's not...you!"

"Well I'm tired of being me!" Jaune roared back, his aura flaring then darkening ominously. "Who the hell wants to live their life the butt of everyone's jokes? The weakest fighter? Bullied every goddamn day?! You think I _enjoy _living like that?"

"And you think...this is the way...to change that?" Ren gasped as he searched his leader's face for a sign that of something, any inkling that Jaune was having second thoughts. Surely he realized that this was crazy, he was attacking his own teammate, his friend. Didn't that mean anything to him? Ren looked into those burning eyes one last time, extending a tendril of his aura to search, hoping to see some fragment of sanity left in the twisted husk of a hunter.

Yet all he saw were angry green bloodshot eyes, more Grimm than human. Jaune's mind was gone, consumed by whatever nightmare that had tried to claim him earlier. Ren closed his eyes and cursed inwardly at what he had to do next.

Mustering every ounce of speed he had, he raised Stormflower, flipped the selector switches to fully automatic, and opened fire upon Jaune from two feet away.

The first several rounds splatted against Jaune's armor plates, the cuirasse doing its job as paint and metallic fragments flew everywhere. The rest of the burst found its mark. The rounds sliced into his unprotected flesh, tearing ragged holes in his hoodie and jeans and leaving deep bloody pockmarks all over his legs and arms. Roaring with fury and stumbling backwards, Jaune thrust his arms up to protect his head as Ren poured more rounds into him. The small magazines emptied quickly however, and in seconds Stormflower finally locked back on empty chambers.

Jaune staggered, blood and... other things leaking from a half dozen holes. The pause was short lived and before Ren could reload Jaune had thrown himself sideways behind his bed. Gritting his teeth Ren reloaded, dropping the empty magazines to the floor and slapping fresh ones home. Ren hoped he hadn't caused any major damage to Jaune. They were training rounds, but even those had a minimum safe distance during sparring matches, and he had most certainly blown right past that safety margin.

Clutching his guns Ren advanced slowly towards Jaune's bed. It was unsettling how quiet everything had suddenly become. There wasn't even a sound of Jaune moaning or shifting around. He was about to call out to see if Jaune was conscious when he heard the sound of Jaune's shield spiraling open, reacting barely in time to deflect a sword-slash with his gun-mounted blades.

Again Jaune was attacking in a mad bull rush, not using any sort of tactic that he could discern. The truth was he didn't have to, the renewed assault brought back the crippling aura that reduced Ren to retreating from or barely deflecting each vicious blow.

Ren tried to fire back, to land more rounds on Jaune but it proved fruitless. Each bone shuddering attacks forced Ren to devote his remaining energy to merely deflecting without a spare instant to take proper aim. He knew he didn't have as much raw stamina as Jaune even under normal circumstances, but between the leeching aura and his hail-mary attempt to knock Jaune out, he had nothing left to give and was starting to slow down. If he could just keep Jaune occupied for a bit longer, Nora and Pyrrha would be back any moment and then-

Jaune lashed out, connecting with the edge of his shield and knocking Ren off balance, capitalizing on the opening to connect a pommel strike to Ren's abdomen. Ren doubled over in agony as he tried to suck air back into his abused lungs. He had a brief glimpse of the floor before Jaune's shield came up, slamming him backwards him into the dorm wall.

The remaining breath he'd been holding onto exploded out of his lungs as he felt at least one rib crack. Every nerve ending screamed in fiery agony at being so close to Jaune's aura. Even after the initial impact Ren continued to be pressed into the wall causing it to buckle and crack ominously. He tried to say something, anything to make Jaune stop, but his body refused to comply with his mind's demands. Through a haze of pain and looming unconsciousness, Ren saw the numerous bruises and wounds blooming across Jaune's from his earlier attacks. That was strange, shouldn't his aura have healed them by...now...?

Crushed between shield and wall Ren's eyes rolled back and his head slumped forward. Jaune let out a long slow breath. _Finally._ He pulled his shield away and let Ren's unconscious body slide to the floor with a soft thud.

"You damn fool...all you had to do was let me walk out the door..." He sighed and relaxed his aura fractionally. Sensing no more immediate threats, he turned to head out of the dorm.

The room around him was an absolute mess. Drywall fragments crunched under his feet and shell casings clinked noisily across the floor as he made his way to the door. A disconnected part of him wondered how they were going to explain all of this. Between in the two crumbling walls and the bullet holes everywhere the janitorial staff were probably going to have a heart attack over this. Misfire maybe? Or some faulty dust rounds going off? Getting the staff to believe that calm and collected Lie Ren would have neglected his weapons to allow-Jaune stopped.

_Why am I giving two shits about cleaning a fucking room? _He shook his head of the distraction and moved towards to the door. He had to leave now, the rest of them would be sure to-

He felt it first, a monstrous killer intent bearing down on him like an incoming meteor. With no further warning the door to their room was blown off its hinges cartwheeling through the dorm to impact with a loud crash against the opposite wall. The engraved silver head of Magnhild entering first followed by the petite frame of Nora Valkyrie.

"Reeennn! Where are you?! Ren!?" Nora stormed into the dorm room, nearly tripping over all of the debris strewn across the floor. She snapped her head back and forth looking for her partner, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Nora's frightened eyes widened as she took in the damage to the dorm room, then wider still as she came to Jaune with his still-drawn weapons. Her mouth flapped open and shut as if attempting to speak, but no words came out, instead her eyes narrowed and she tightened the grip on her massive war hammer.

"Hey Nora..." Jaune said, breaking the silence between them. The mocking tone he had taken with Ren absent from his voice he slowly circled. He had to get past her and the less he did to excite her the better. If he played his cards right he might be able to-

"J-Jaune..." Nora interrupted, her voice trembling. "...where's Ren?"

"He's fine, if you could just move out of the way, Nora." Jaune responded quietly. "I have to go do something."

Nora's psyche, since receiving the emergency call from Ren, had more or less reduced itself to a series of simple questions: Where was Ren? Was he ok? Was he somewhere in this ruined dorm? Everything in the rest of Beacon became secondary to these queries, including dorm room doors. Now she was faced with another, unexpected obstacle: her friend and team captain.

She moved forward a step, her voice rising higher. "Jaune! Where's Ren!? He called me! He called all of us! He's in trouble! Tell me!" She was screaming now, in near hysterics. Her hands flexed and twitched over the hilt of Magnhild as her nervous energy threatened to overwhelm her.

Momentarily turning away from Jaune she froze as she finally spotted the answer to the first of her concerns. There he was, Ren was lying next to the wall. He wasn't moving. He wasn't ok. It was at that moment that she finally noticed it. In blind panic she had charged into the room without really paying attention to her surroundings. But now she felt it. The same seeping terror that tore at her mind this morning was back, stronger than before, engulfing the room with an invisible sickness.

She wanted to run. She wanted to crawl under her bed and hide until it all went away. But her friend...Ren was on the floor...he wasn't moving...he was hurt...and Jaune...

"NORA! Get out of the way! I have to leave, now!" Jaune yelled with impatience.

The command snapped Nora out of her daze and she looked back to Jaune in alarm. Looking back and forth between Ren's prone form and her glowering team leader she made the connection at last.

"Jaune...what happened to Ren?"

"Nora!-" Jaune began but was cut off again.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Look I don't know but-"

"Why aren't you helping him?"

"I told you I have something to do I-"

"Did you hurt him?"

Jaune paused. In that brief moment's hesitation, Nora found her answer.

"You did that...didn't you? You hurt Ren...Why?" Nora whimpered.

Swirling confusion turned to murderous intent, her rage surging against Jaune's aura with a raw angry pulse.

"Because he got in the way Nora." Jaune replied, the darkness returning to his voice.

No sooner had the words passed his lips when a strangled roar erupted from the diminutive huntress. Closing the distance in a single leap, Nora swung her warhammer faster than Jaune would have thought possible. The real Jaune's Pyrrha-trained reflexes saved him, barely lifting his arm to block, the blow slamming into his shield with an explosion that reverberated through the whole room.

Despite their respective sizes, Jaune was lifted off his feet and flung backwards into the air. Wood and wall fragments scattered as he crashed through the wall near Ren's body add yet another large hole to JNPR's dorm room.

"You know..." Jaune's voice sounded out of the hole interspersed with a flurry of dusty coughs. "...as beautiful as Beacon's internal architecture is...I'm really...getting sick and tired of being punted through FUCKING WALLS!"

On the attack once again, he burst from the dust and darkness, aura flaring as he answered Nora's attack.

Despite their weapons it was a contest of Auras more than anything else. Murder and corruption raked across the room as they tried to crush each other in spirit while exchanging blows meant to do the same to flesh. Nora swung her hammer about in a whirling tornado that missed Jaune by a fraction, the near-hit slamming into her dresser, reducing it to kindling and scattering her clothes. Attempting to take advantage of her momentary offballance Jaune lunged forward with a stab only for Nora to flip out of the way by riding the detonation of a grenade spat forth from her hammer. The dresser was further pulverized as she somersaulted backwards to land a few feet away.

Nora was fully in combat rage now. Jaune had seen it from afar on missions, the slight, naïve girl become berzerker, possessed by a keening blood-lust that even as her ally had scared him, and only able to be calmed down by a concentrated effort on Ren's part. _And he's not here to help is he?_ The taunting roles were reversed as Jaune mentally chided himself as he dodged another monstrous swing of her hammer. She wasn't tiring down like Ren was earlier, her aura protecting her from Jaune's own, a beacon of rage smashing against his corruption.. Not good, he couldn't take too many of those hits, and that was if she continued to refrain from using grenades – if she started throwing those out in such a small area...

He launched a series of slashing attacks trying to close, to get inside her arc of swing, but she kept hopping around like Velvet running away from bullies. He swore in frustration, this was going nowhere, if Pyrrha got here while Nora was still like this then he'd never be able to go after Cardin.

"Dammit Nora! Get the hell out of the way you crazy bitch! You want to end up like Ren too!?"

Nora screamed with renewed fury and charged. The strange voice at the back of his head returned to mock him mercilessly. _Oh that's REALLY smart, just remind her that you beat the shit out of her childhood friend, smooth move there idiot. _

Bringing her hammer around for another destructive arc she spun forward, knocking chairs, beds and other assorted furniture all over the place as she advanced on Jaune.

"Hurt...Ren! Kill...You! Hurt...Ren! Kill...YOU!"

The chant was repeated over and over. Half a growl, half a scream, the demon of Magnhild having fully taken over the tiny Valkyrie. Finishing the wide swing with a sudden vertical flourish, Nora brought the hammer down in a mighty crash that Jaune barely managed to deflect away. The slight contact with Nora's weapon shuddered through his body with enough force to make his teeth rattle.

Gripping his shield and pulling back he shifted his stance, bringing his shield up with his sword trailing. Charging forward he lashed out with the pointed tip of his shield, hoping to catch her in the head. She raised up the hilt of Magnhild to parry the attack easily, though the shockwave knocked her hands loose enough to prevent a responding counter. Feigning with the sword as a distraction he stepped off-angle, this time managing to connect, bashing the shield into the side of her jaw.

She stumbled sideways but recovered faster than he expected, kicking out with her foot and slamming it into his knee. The impact hobbled him, Jaune staggered back into Ren's bed frame which cracked under the impact, the air once again forced out of his lungs.

He didn't have a chance to take another breath as she was upon him again in an instant. Rolling sideways, he managed to dodge Nora's hammer as it came down in a meteoric impact that obliterated fully half of Ren's bed to leave a small crater in the floor where he had been just seconds before.

Nora's head snapped to the side to track his movements, the hammer twisting to follow her gaze as she swung it like a golf club. The power drive caught Jaune on his raised shield, once again punting him across the room. He sailed through the bathroom door, the flimsy wood barely slowing his flight as its hinges gave way and he crashed into the mirror above the sink in a shower of broken glass.

Jaune felt something break, but he he couldn't differentiate if it was just the mirror or something more vital. Dust and adrenaline blocking out any pain he pressed on. Ignoring the shards of glass embedded into the back of his neck he roared with fury and ran back out. Springing off Nora's bed he barely kept from slamming into the ceiling, using the arc to execute an aerial attack, he brought his blade down a massive slash. Once more Nora raised her hammer to effortlessly block. How she moved that hammer so easily never ceased to amaze Jaune, only now he felt fear and rage at her skill rather than admiration. _Just your luck you had to piss her off huh? _The strange voice taunted yet again.

Sensing her counter-attack he leapt back breathing hard as a grenade sailed past to explode harmlessly somewhere in the bathroom. His mind raced trying to figure a way to subdue her. Brute force didn't seem to be working. That hit he landed on her jaw was bruising angrily across her cheek, but hadn't slowed her down at all. She was panting hard and trembling slightly, but it appeared more from her combat rage rather than fatigue. Not something he could really use to his advantage unless...he zeroed in on her hands clenching the hammer. They were trembling rather badly, her arms tiring from maintaining a tense deathgrip on the weapon. A tactic formed in his head and a slight grin began to play over his face. Maybe there was a way out after all. He launched himself forward again making short rapid stabbing attacks targeting her hands rather than directly assaulting her body.

The fresh approach started to work. His blows mostly missed, Nora recognized the threat and began shifting her hands up and down the hilt trying to avoid her fingers getting skewered by Jaune's blade. Her focus on avoiding injury soon had her fully on the defensive, deflecting Jaune's attacks and shifting backwards slowly, unable to bring her hammer to bear for an attack of her own.

Even though her slender fingers managed to dance away from each blow the change of strategy began to bear fruit. Strikes she might have absorbed were sending her off-balance as she was forced to slide her hands up and down the hammer, nearly having it knocked from her grip once or twice. Tightening her grip fared her no better – fatigue was setting in even as the firmer hold caused a particularly well-timed twist of an attack from Jaune to wrench her wrist badly. She growled in irritation. Nora won fights by sheer destructive force, always pressing forward, depending on quick victory or support from an ally if things dragged out. She was slowly being overwhelmed by the constant focus on her mere ability to wield her weapon, and the damage was piling up. Jaune could see the despair and confusion blooming on her face, and Jaune forced his attack harder, his cruel grin spreading wider and his aura began to chip away at her own.

So focused on defending her hands and unused to fighting from her back foot, more and more openings started to show in her defense. She tried to circle out as he backed her into a wall and he almost caught her with a trip, following up with a lightning slice across her forearm. Blood dribbled down her hand, the slickness making her hold on her weapon even more precarious.

Well inside her effective range now he kept on the pressure, battering her with pommel and shield as he moved in past the effective range of his blade. Nearly in a grapple their fighting became even more primitive, his weight slowly winning out, Crocea Mors entangled with Magnhild as he tried to force his way past her final defenses. For a moment the battle turned to one of wills, her aura desperately tried to keep up as she roared with angry defiance at this nettling menace before her, unable to stop the force of it and him bearing down.

With a final effort she tried to twist away, only for Jaune to drag his shield down the length of her weapon, frail flesh smashed between two unyielding pieces of metal. She screamed in rage and pain, the head of the hammer dropping to the ground as she fumbled for control. Jaune pressed on, his blade coming up in a short vertical slash aimed to take her under the chin. Nora's eyes flashed as tried to evade, leaning back to watch the ancient sword pass in front of her face, the razor edge taking off the tips of her bangs, orange threads showering over them to flit in the dust and smoke already filling the room. With a roar she lunged back forward, jumping up to head-butt Jaune full in the face.

Head snapped back from the force of the Valkyr missile, Jaune definitely knew something was broken now. The impact landed with a sickening crunch that he felt through his whole skull and he could taste the hot blood pouring from his nose down the front of his armor, staining it crimson. Strangely there was still no pain, despite everything that had happened to him at this point, his whole body felt...nothing. Nothing at all. The voice in the back of his head spoke up again, warning him this was bad, but he pushed it aside. There was an opponent to put down, he could deal with this later.

Nora was still struggling to get the hammer back up to fight, fighting against her own pain but unable to get her mangled hand to work properly. Stepping into the blow with all of his strength behind it, Jaune swung his shield again this time cleanly connecting with the broadside and smashing into the side of Nora's head. Nora's eyes bugged out as she was flung sideways, skidding across the floor in a heap still attempting to hold onto her weapon. On the second bounce her hammer fell to the ground with a heavy thud and Jaune was upon her in a flash. His shield retracting he grabbed her by her combat harness, lifting her off the ground only to slam her back down again

She was yelling non-stop now, pain and terror finally overwhelming her combat rage as Jaune's aura finally broke through her own. She tried to push him off, but Jaune held fast to her harness, lifting her almost as high as his shoulders before slamming her down again.

_Don't!_

"STAY DOWN NORA! I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T STOP!" His blade now hovered over her face, ready to plunge forth for a final, fatal blow.

_Stop it you idiot! She's your-_

"KILL YOU!" She screamed back at him.

Sneering in rage he attacked again. Whether from an urge to punish her more thoroughly or a momentary surfacing of his unpossessed self his hand opened, his blade clattering to the floor as his arm slammed downward in a fist.

_Why? Why are you doing this?_

Gloved knuckles slammed into her face, cartilage crunching as her nose broke. Looming over her, the blood from his own smashed face dripped down to mix with hers as he punched again, hitting her jaw and knocking a few teeth loose.

"K-KILL!...YRG" She gurgled through a mouth full of blood.

_STOP IT! YOU'LL KILL HER! STOP-!_

Putting all of his remaining strength behind it his fist slammed down again, knocking her head back into the floor. The might of the little Valkyrie had finally given out. With a gurgle of blood seeping from her mouth, her eyes rolled back and her body went limp in his hand.

An eerie silence finally settled in the room save for the deep shuddering pants Jaune was making as his body attempted to settle down. Never, not in training, not even in pitched combat with the Grimm had he felt this much adrenaline, this much rage flowing through his system and his body was finally starting to rebel against it, shuddering and twitching uncontrollably.

He knelt there upon Nora, not moving. The voice in the back of his head was screaming now. Somehow this all felt...wrong? Why should it be? He had eliminated two threats that got in his way. Why should he feel bad about it?

_They are our teammates!_ the voice crowed. So they got in the way then, that was their fault to begin with...Ren should have let him out the door and Nora shouldn't have interfered, none of this would have happened if they had just gotten out of the way!

"Now to make sure they never betray me again..." He muttered darkly as he retrieved his sword. Yes, he'd have to make sure that they never defied him...he'd make sure of that...

A noise made his head snap around. "J-Jaune?..."

Pyrrha stood there, framed by the shattered remains of their doorway looking on in terrified silence at what was before her. She had a moment to take in the devastation in their dorm room and the two bodies on the floor before she noticed a long blade swinging in her direction...

* * *

**Well shit...that got real didn't it? I guess we'll have to see what happens next chapter then won't we? Thanks again for staying along for the ride!**

**Music Inspirations**

**Freak of the Week - Freak Kitchen**

**Killer Instinct Main Theme**

**Ta fête - Stromae**

**True Survivor - Kung Fury Soundtrack**

**Get Low - Dillon Francis &amp; DJ Snake**

**Hau Ruck - KMFDM**

**Battle with the Clowns - Akira OST**

**Tetsuo - Akira OST**

**Kaneda - Akira OST**

**Man in the Box - Alice in Chains**

**Questionable Ethics 1 - Black Mesa Soundtrack**

**We've got Hostiles! - Black Mesa Soundtrack**


	15. Chapter 15 - A Man with Two Souls

Pyrrha's stomach was a taught, acid filled ball as she sprinted towards the dorms. Things were happening too fast. It had started with an emergency distress call from Ren out of nowhere sending Nora tearing off like a Beowulf out of the dining hall faster than Pyrrha could call after her. Pyrrha was certainly no slouch when it came to running, but even she had been hard pressed to keep pace with the little Valkyrie zipping across the campus. Compounding the issue was how unsubtle Nora's flight had been. Had it not been for a group of students opening the main entrance to the cafeteria, Pyrrha was sure Nora would have blown it off its hinges with her hammer.

The assistance of their fellow students still didn't stop the young Valkyrie from running them over, scattering them like bowling pins and leaving the dining hall in the confused dust of half of team Juniper sprinting out of the dining hall with weapons drawn.

Initial panic began to undermine her training as Pyrrha crossed the campus barely on the heels of her frantic teammate. She thought back to the initial alert again, waging a private, internal, battle to bring her emotions under control. Any team panic alarm would be terrifying to deal with, but it was the specific phrase that sent a chill down her spine: "Forest Fire".

Extreme Danger.

Imminent Death.

Given its source there were only two conclusions that Pyrrha could come up with. Either Ren was somehow dying at Jaune's hands, a thought too ludicrous to consider seriously even without adding Jaune's illness to the mix, or there was the more likely and terrifying possibility that it was Jaune in danger. The latter thought had her strangely perturbed, and no matter how much she tried to focus on her breathing or mentally preparing herself for possible combat, her mind was plagued by thoughts of nightmarish scenarios, jacking up her anxiety to a level not felt since her first Mistral Championship.

Her longer stride finally bringing her even to run alongside Nora, Pyrrha could only imagine the same going on in her friend's mind but in reverse. Nora liked Jaune well enough, but it when it came to Ren...well, she doubted that even a _herd_ of Ursa Majors could keep Nora from Ren's side if she thought he was in danger of anything more perilous than a paper-cut.

Cutting into the grass to make it across the final corner of the quad they approached the rear of the dorm building. Coming around the building towards the main entrance they bore witness to a sea of people pouring from the emergency exit in a panicked mass. Some stumbled, others fell to the ground in retching fits, vomiting and rolling around in visible pain as they crowded out through the double doors. Pyrrha started to slow, trying to figure out their next move but the sight only supercharged Nora, and she charged forward with a sudden burst of speed.

"Nora wait! What are you-?"

Before Pyrrha could finish, the little Valkyrie had already closed to within a few yards of the entrance. For a horrific moment it looked like Nora was going to pulverize the students evacuating the building to get through, but with a sudden leap she was airborne. Flipping skyward she landed on the head of her hammer, pulling the trigger as her feet made contact. The explosive blast knocked a few nearby students aside as Nora rode the detonation to the roof where she disappeared out of view. Pyrrha was left behind on the ground, barely having enough time to both curse and marvel at the acrobatics of her teammates advance when the first wave of the fleeing students crashed into her, pushing and shoving to get away from the building.

Standing her ground like she had against team CRDL just a few weeks prior, she grabbed a burly looking student, stopping him from shoving past.

"Hey what the hell are you-?!" he yelped before the combination of Pyrrha's vice-like grip and her blazing emerald gaze silenced the outburst.

"What's going on in the dorms? Why is everyone running?!" She yelled at him, her voice rose to be heard over the din even at these close quarters.

"I don't know, ok?! There's some kind of gas leak or something! People are freaking out, hallucinating and throwing up and shit! We need to get out of here!" With a twist he managed to wrench himself free of Pyrrha's grasp, leaving a torn fistful of cloth behind as he hurried off to join the rest of the students running away from the building. More students continued to pour from the emergency exit, desperately trying to escape. Barely able to hold her ground in the stream Pyrrha could see the panic and sickness plainly in their faces. She had seen this before...the panic alarm...Jaune...this wasn't just a gas leak...

Unable to push herself forward though her fellow students without risking injuring one of them she sprinted around towards the front of the building, forgoing the emergency exit. That single door way would take forever to get through with everyone running out like that, the front should-

Rounding the corner, her hopes on that front were dashed. More students were running out of here than out the rear. The wider doors would make an easier approach though, it would have to do. Drawing her aura around herself for protection she pressed onwards, darting in between students as quickly as she could, ignoring their shouts of protest as she pushed past. She had almost reached the entrance when the mass of students became too thick to push through. With a roar of frustration she was pushed aside by the human tide, barely keeping herself from being knocked to the ground by clutching to one of the many lampposts bordering the school's walking paths.

Eyeing the flood of students one last time she changed tact, drawing her semblance to herself she wrenched the the stout iron post, bending it over the heads of the students to make a ramp to the paneled glass window looming above the main doors.

Leading with her shield for protection she charged up the narrow beam, a single shot from Miló shattering it before her as she vaulted through the gap with a shower of glass. Students scattering below her she landed past the swarm and began charging up the main hall only to be brought up short, an invisible force slamming her to a halt.

_What...was this?_ She gasped, air knocked from her chest. Horror and disgust flooded her senses, like a Grimm assaulting her from the inside. Years of honed reflexes commanded her arms to bring her javelin and shield to their guard positions as she glanced around the swiftly emptying main foyer. There was a threat that needed to be dealt with...only where was it? _What_ was it? Scanning left and right she found nothing tangible, but the feeling was there...oppressive, dangerous. This must be what was causing everyone to flee the dorms. She could feel the nausea building in her gut, and was immediately thankful she hadn't had anything to eat.

She took a few tentative steps forward, immediately feeling the uncomfortable sensation intensify. It wasn't just her imagination; the invisible miasma was getting worse the further she went, growing even stronger as she started up the stairs towards their floor. As she made her way up the cloud became almost palatable, and also familiar, a fear confirmed as she shouldered open the stairwell door and finally laid eyes on the entrance-no what _had_ been the entrance to their dorm room. Her jaw dropped for a moment before her lips tightened into a grimace as she took in the sight. A ragged, splintered hole gaped where their door had been. Something had blasted it clean off its hinges, buckling the stout oaken frame.

Senses on fully alert for the slightest movement or sound, she advanced slowly towards the breach. Pressing herself to the wall next to the cracked door frame, she stopped to listen.

Nothing.

Just the gentle thrum of the air conditioning running through the now deserted building. Ear pressed against the wall in focus she paused. There...the faint rasp of slow, labored breathing coming from their room. At least one person was in there. Straining her ears she waited a bit longer, but hearing no more she pushed off the wall and started to round the door frame, only to stop dead just past the threshold.

Her first thought was that someone had detonated several bombs inside the room. Her mouth dropped open as she took in the two giant holes in the far wall and the countless bullet holes and craters dotting the room. Moving further around the remains of the doorway the sprawled form of Nora lying in a spreading pool of crimson came into view only for a white flash of metal to catch her attention from the other direction. Without thinking she raised her arm in defense, greeted by a resounding clang of metal on metal, her shield shuddering under the impact.

"J-Jaune?!"

Pyrrha had been living with Jaune for the past several months and she still almost didn't recognize the bloody man looming over her, his pallor grey and twisted, like a zombie from a horror film. He looked wrong, his eye's wide and sickly green, blood oozing from numerous wounds on his body, trickling over dented and scorched armor plates that looked like they'd been used as makeshift drums by an angry Ursa.

There was no way to disguise the toxic rage that was radiating from him. It poured over her, making her recoil in disgust. It was only sheer force of will and her many years of training that prevented her becoming overwhelmed by its vileness.

"Jaune! What are you doing? What's going-AHH!" Before she could say another word he had shifted, pulling her to one side and swinging his shield like a cudgel at her head. Despite her surprise she ducked the blow with ease, charging forward and shoving his sword aside. Flipping Milo blade side down, she hooked the pommel under Jaune's cuirass and with the aid of her semblance drew the metal breastplate towards her. Grabbing it with her shield hand, she pitched Jaune over her shoulder. A look of surprise on his face he arced through the room, bouncing off his bed and crashing down onto the floor.

Flipping up back to his feet, Jaune was back on the offense in an instant. His acid green eyes flashed as he charged at Pyrrha again. Her back to the wall she kept her weapons up as he angled to his left, trying to box her in and lash out with his sword. Pyrrha deflected the blow with ease, using the thrust to spin past him and re-take the center of the room. He spun back to face her, swinging Crocea Mors wide but she was already back inside, driving into him with her shield with enough force to lift him off his feet, his head smashing into the wall as she knocked him back.

If the attack had any effect, Jaune didn't show it as he shoved her away with unexpected strength. Shield raised she watched for his next move, noting that his vile aspect seemed to have dimmed slightly. Despite the hell he looked he acted unaffected by the injuries and she gaped as he leapt forward again, unaffected by an impact that should have, at the minimum, dazed even the strongest of hunters, aura or not. Yet there he was, wounds and all, driving forward, shield and sword lashing out with deadly intent. Each swing complemented each other in a brutal avalanche of attacks that Pyrrha was only able to dodge and redirect with some difficulty. He was faster and stronger than she had ever seen before and the narrow confines of the dorm room were limiting her options. Shifting to the side lest their fight take place atop the bodies of their teammates she caught a bone-jarring hit with her shield. She hadn't been this hard pressed in some time, not since her 4vs1 match with team CRDL had she had to focus so much on defense and she didn't remember even Cardin hitting as hard as Jaune was now.

Fortunately his newfound speed and power were not matched by any major increase in skill and she continued her defense. Counter attacking at every opportunity with the aid of her semblance, she redirected his strikes, deflecting his shield and knocking his whole body off balance by tugging or shifting the balance of his armor. Though he never slowed or showed sign of fatigue she felt the aura shirk from her presence.

As she continued to fend off his assault she realized something – though his style was as unrefined as ever, it was different, never in their sparring had he used his shield like this, not just to block but to attack. In all their practice sessions, Jaune had never managed to do anything with his shield aside from blocking and using it as a simple battering ram, nor had he managed to figure anything out with his aura beyond that he could heal small cuts and scratches. Now he was attacking like a dual wielding berserker, slicing and slamming with both arms, relying on the fury of his assault to limit her own counterattacks. Were she not on the receiving end of these attacks she might have appreciated it more, but the thought of having to fight him pushed aside her marveling at his sudden surge of lethality.

Momentarily distracted as her right foot slipped on a pool of blood she ducked under a brutal lunge that missed her throat by inches. With Milo still pommel up she used the notch on the side of her shield to entrap his blade. With his guard open she launched herself upwards, striking with Milo's pommel, driving the ebonwood handle directly into his sternum. She winced as she felt something crack, a rib or perhaps two, she thought. Scrambling back to her feet her eyes widened as Jaune merely stumbled back, still on his feet, chest rising and falling with each breath but no sign of pain in his expression, only rage.

"JAUNE! Stop it! What are you doing?!" She tried reaching out to him again but he merely stood there shaking his head. In that brief pause, however she glanced past him, finally getting a better look at the prone figures of Nora and Ren on the dorm floor. Her eyes darted from the blood pooling around them back to him, his crimson-tinged fist and blade, this couldn't be possible, Jaune wouldn't, he couldn't...

Her concern for her friends was interrupted as Jaune lurched forward again. Breathing heavily, his jaw opened lopsidedly.

"The meddling traitor...always...getting in my way..." Pyrrha's eyes went wide. That...that wasn't Jaune's voice, it grated against her ears like dry gravel, devoid of life or warmth.

The bloody knight raised his sword and pointed it directly at her face. "Step aside now...I've tolerated your insubordination before, but if you attempt to stop me again...you will pay dearly for it." He motioned with his shield arm towards the prone forms of Nora and Ren who she now saw were beginning to stir feebly. Goosebumps broke out across her arms as a fresh wave of his sickening aura rose to accompany the demand.

Time paused to watch the conflict. Both warriors stood resolute in their positions, neither backing down from each other's gaze. She tried to process what was happening but her mind just couldn't keep up with what her senses were urgently reporting to her. Jaune, her team captain, the dearest friend she ever had, had attacked her, and probably Ren and Nora as well. It was so beyond the realm of possibility, she would have expected Grimm to suddenly master Mistrali folk dancing before something like this could happen. It just didn't make sense.

As questions swirled in her mind she her lifetime of training took over, forcing it aside. One way or another it didn't look like Jaune could be reasoned with right now. She would have to fight him. Not as a sparring partner, not as a test in Goodwitch's class, but as an...enemy. The conclusion arrived with a sickening finality that she still didn't want to accept. But there was no denying the burning hatred in that face or that sickening aura that filled the room with its invisible poison. Years of drilling came to the fore; the opponent stood before her, and Pyrrha Nikos would neither yield nor fall. Milo shifted in her hand, blade-up now, she readied her next attack.

Mere yards away Jaune appeared to reach the same conclusion. With a raspy roar, he lunged forward. Sword and Aura joined in a piercing charge aimed at Pyrrha's heart. Shifting stance Pyrrha raised her shield, parrying the blade and returned the attack with a blow of her own, her spear lashing out under his shield to slice into his thigh before she circled out, now standing guard over her teammates.

The stakes in the battle over Jaune Arc were raised yet again. But while Pyrrha followed after her team in contending with the physical manifestation of Jaune's madness, a battle was already raging elsewhere against an opponent even more daunting and ephemeral...

* * *

_Floating. Adrift in the endless black. A sea of nothingness, his body tumbling lazily through the ether. It felt like he had been here a long time, yet all the same, not long enough, so comfortable was this place. Like a comfortably warm bath that never grew cold or a bowl of hot soup that never emptied. Away from pain, from ache, from despair, from duty, from pleasure, from joy, from anything, this was where he belonged, even if he didn't really know where 'here' was. He was in no hurry to find out, content merely to sink further and further into the abyss._

**"****_What are you doing here?" _**_Prodded an unseen voice. Gentle, oddly familiar somehow, it came from everywhere and nowhere, but he couldn't identify its owner. _

_It was a funny question to ask anyway, and one he had no interest in answering. Better just to lie here and not think. That was definitely easier. No worries, no concerns, no demands on his mind. _

**_"You need to get up." _**_The voice returned more insistent now, a command rather than an enquiry. _

_No. No more getting up. That meant leaving this comfortable place. If he left here...there would be pain...so much pain. Why should he expose himself to that? Why should he want that?_

**_"Because you are an Arc. We do not run from pain. NOW GET UP!" _**_This time the voice boomed through his mind, yanking him from the inky depths. _

_Pain indeed greeted his return. Every fiber of his being radiated with scorching heat that covered his whole body. He gasped only to suck searing air into his lungs. It was overwhelming...like he was-_

_His world was aflame. Yellow-hot gouts leaping into the air, devouring his clothes and armor. He tried to scream, but only managed to inhale more burning ash. Flames burned through his clothes and scorched his skin. He tried to move, but something tied around his chest held him fast, keeping him in the inferno. Lunging forward trying to break his bonds he felt them weaken, the flames eating away at his bindings even as they blistered and scorched his flesh. Howling in pain as the ropes tore into his skin he finally succeeded after his third painful attempt. Feeling the bonds break and stumbling blindly forward, Jaune escaped the blaze and collapsed, rolling around in the ground to extinguish his clothing, the dirt grinding into his wounds like salt. _

_His whole body was screaming. Every flinch sent a thousand burning pricks of pain up and down his legs and arms as he coughed cinders and gulped lungfuls of clean air. Listening to the sizzling of his armor, he lay there in a fugue of agony, unable to marshal any strength to move forward. Maybe it would be better just to lay here...too painful to think..._

**_"You don't belong here." _**_The thought cleaved through his stupor like his sword. His sword...Crocea Mors!_

_With his body protesting every move, he lifted himself off the ground and began to search for it. Where was his sword?! And his shield? Frantically scrabbling around the dirt, he searched for his gear amidst the backdrop of the inferno. _

_Squinting past the bright flames he looked around. It looked like he was in...the Forever Fall Forest? That meant he was near Beacon but...how did he get all the way out here? _

_Trying to recall what had brought him to this place only made his head throb. Reaching his hand up to press against his temples, Jaune looked down and screamed._

_From two bloody holes in his torso, a pair of mangled serpents dangled from his chest._

_"Agh, what? What the hell are you things?" He yelled in horror._ _Memories started trickling back to him. A house. A roaring fire...and a towering demon. _

_"You will learn true strength today..." The words came to mind almost automatically, like a muscle flinching in anticipation of a blow. Did that mean he was here somewhere? How would Jaune face him again? He had been so easily overpowered last time-he shook his head. First things first, he had to get these things out of him but how? He didn't have his sword and it didn't look like there was pair of jumbo-sized scissors anywhere within arm's reach. He looked down again, coming to an unpleasant conclusion just as fast as he had pondered his predicament. If he couldn't cut them out then...he sighed. Taking a deep, steadying breath he grabbed the serpents and braced himself for what was to come._

_The pain was, if anything, worse than the fire, a soul-wracking ache that only intensified as he pulled, tearing at something deep within as he called upon all the strength he could muster. The snakes did not want to give up their prisoner easily, giving ground only grudgingly, bit by bit with painful resistance. After several minutes of slow, torturous pulling, he felt a hard tug from within him, everything coming taught. _

_"End of the line..." He whispered to himself. Sweat dripped down his face as he tried to catch his breath. _

_With a final surge of effort, he tore the snakes free, flinging them towards the fire and hearing them land with a much heavier than expected thump. The effort forced his body down with them and he fell to his back, clutching his abdomen. Fearful of what he might see, it was several minutes before he worked up the courage to inspect the damage to his body. Expecting gaping wounds gushing blood or bile, he slowly opened his eyes to look. _

_He blinked._

_Though there was a pair of bloody holes in his hoodie, the wounds he had been expecting where not there. Before he could contemplate this latest oddity further, a loud crackling nearby drew his attention over to the snakes. Blindly they were reaching out, searching for him with fang-filled lips. Lashing out with his feet he kicked them into the fire, watching as they twisted in the flames, quickly disintegrating into green tinged ash. _

_Pushing himself once again to his feet, he gingerly walked around the bonfire. It looked like he was atop one of the many cliffs that hung over the canyons surrounding Beacon. He could see it off in the distance, towering over the twisted black forest below, back dropped by a blood red sky that stretched into eternity. The once proud spires of the campus gnarled and disfigured like the trees that surrounded him. That was where he had to go, didn't he? Why exactly he didn't know, but it had to be better than here..._

_Wincing with each step he turned from the school, moving towards the cliffs edge, peering over into the darkness. Sheer and perilous the ground fell away into misty black depths. He should fear such a height, yet it looked so inviting. To return to the void, to not have to care anymore, not have to fight, to struggle. It would be so easy just to...fall away and let the world sort itself out without him...would anyone really miss him? Would the school? His family? His team?_

_His team...Nora, Ren, Pyrrha. The thought of them gave him pause. Would they really forget him? _

_He looked over the cliff again. If he went down he would be leaving them forever. Never to see their faces, nor feel their touch. Yet that would also free him from the pain and responsibility of going back. No more fighting, no more struggling, just the blissful void welcoming him home. He contemplated the cliff for long moments then shook his head. No...that was not something he could give up. Not for himself, and not for them. Stumbling slightly as he tested his weak legs he turned away and headed into the forest, the inferno casting flickering shadows through the trees before him as the darkness slowly closed in._

_The progress was slow. The forest had grown thick and wild, more so than he had ever remembered. At times forced to crawl on his knees or stumble over massive gnarled roots, it felt like several hours had passed before he made his way through to the side that bordered Beacon. The nightmarish visage of Beacon Academy loomed before him, decrepit and melting, a mockery of its former glory yet towering even higher than he remembered. Now that he had reached his goal, he was at a loss what to do next. He looked from building to building trying to figure out where to go, what to do. _

_Looking about the campus again he spotted the comm tower, tallest amongst the decaying structures, still defiant despite the abuse it had endured. It had the ability to traverse great distances to bring people together, even if only through a crystal panel display and a speaker. _

_That was where he would go. It could reach anywhere in Vale, surely it could reach his friends! The goal unlocking a fresh reserve of strength he set off across the shattered courtyard at a run, weaving his way through skeletal remnants of trees and buckled paving stones._ _Just had to get there in one piece. Just had to-_

**-get this meddlesome brat out of the way. If he would just stand down nothing else would have to-**

_-run into anything else here. Don't have a weapon, how am I going to get-_

**-him out of the way? He wouldn't back down, not without a fight. His aura is strong, yet brittle. Fitting for such a frail man. How-**

-_did I ever figure out how to navigate this-_

**_-_****damn fool dared to fight back? No matter, perhaps a more permanent solution would be in order...**

_As if struck Jaune fell to the ground, clutching his head. The agony searing through his skull eclipsing the painful stab from his bruised knees bashing into the cobblestone path. _

**He would break him, it shouldn't be too hard. He would fall without much trouble. He just had to get past that aura-**

_Oh god Ren was shooting him. He fired over and over, emptying his magazines into him. The bullets gouged deep holes in his body and armor plates. Move dammit! You're going-_

**Pain covered his body, lighting it afire with numerous stabs of pain. So he actually had the stones to fight back then...He would show him his place, even if he did bring a knife to a gu-**

_Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!-_

**I WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE THE INSECT YOU ARE!**

_"DON'T HURT HIM!" Jaune heard himself scream, over and over again. Ren was being crushed into the wall, the vision overwhelming all of his senses. He was in the dorm, then back in the ruins of Beacon... Betwix a pair of nightmares, his mind threatened to break apart, cleaved by two realities fighting for dominance. _

_"NO! THIS ISN'T-YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS!" With a final cry, the vision broke, the ground rushing to meet him._

_Dirt and pebbles filled his vision as he lay there, his mind trying to recoil from the abuse it had endured. What was he seeing? Was that real? Was any of this real? He didn't know and doubted he'd be able to figure it out himself. He'd need...he would need Ren for something like this wouldn't he? _

_He'd need Ren. And Pyrrha. Nora too. He needed his team. The single thing he could take away from that vision was that Ren was in danger and he needed to move. Forcing himself back to feet and wincing at the painful throbbing in his temple he shuffled on, working back up to a run as he moved further into Beacon's Academy._

_Dark and overgrown, the whole place appeared abandoned. Passing building after building, he glanced through shattered windows as he ran by, seeing only rotting husks of tables and chairs, collapsed ceilings, leaking pipes. This wasn't an academy, this was a graveyard...no living soul had walked these paths for many years. He wondered if the Comm tower would even still be operating. If the rest of the school looked like this..._

_He rounded the corner of the Administration building and was halfway up the stairs when he finally spotted someone at the entrance to the Comm tower lobby. _

_A thin, spindly creature of shadow stood before him, barring his way inside. Even with limbs almost too long to be human, it was hauntingly familiar as it started to advance towards him, clutching a pair of bladed pistols in dark, gnarled claws._

_"R-Ren?" The name tumbled from his lips. He didn't know why it had come to mind. The thing in front of him was hideous, some malformed being of shadow ripped from some living nightmare. Yet the first thing he thought of was Ren. Was it because of the vision? Ren had been in that vision, but now he was...here? Unanswered questions swirled through his head, rendering him dumbstruck as it lurched closer, its features drawing into sharper focus as it stepped out of the shadows._

_The creature what resembled Ren did not respond, its expressionless face gazing at him with blank lifeless eyes, conveying an indescribable emptiness, a wraith brought to life. Without any warning, the creature raised its weapons. Jaune's mind locked up. Ren was going to shoot him. Just like the vision! Ren was going to..._

_Without thinking further Jaune dove sideways behind one of the large flower pots that lined the path. Pottery exploded around him as he scrambled to his feet and broke into a run. He didn't have a weapon, there was no way he could take Ren on like this, and even if he did have Crocea Mors, would he really have the guts to fight him? _

_A rattling burst thundered behind him. Bullets impacted the ground around his feet, peppering the back of his neck with dirt and stone fragments. He dodged left and right, trying to evade the creature's fire and find cover. Fortunately it hardly seemed to be aiming...like it was toying with him, herding him away from the tower. A nearby flowerpot shattered into a cloud of clay shards and old soil forcing him to jerk away and almost stumble to the ground. Darting left he rushed between two buildings as more rounds came his way, the chattering of Ren's automatic pistols echoing across the deserted campus. _

_Turning another corner he spotted the main entrance to the Sparring Arena. There. There had to be weapons...the lockers... He sprinted up the steps to the entrance and tried to jerk it open but the heavy doors held fast. Bracing his legs against the ground he heaved again, causing the door to groan in rusty defiance. His third attempt was suddenly interrupted by a trio of bullet impacts that missed his head by inches. Reflexively he dove to the ground and looked up. Ren was firing wildly from across the courtyard, spraying rounds across the face of the arena. The distance between them guaranteed poor accuracy, but eventually a lucky shot would connect. A panicked surge of adrenaline coursing into his muscles, Jaune leapt to his feet and pulled again, finally wrenching one of the doors open far enough to squeeze through and pull it shut behind. Looking around he spied a rusty pipe lying on the floor, jamming it into the handles to form a crude barricade. That would have to do for now, he just needed a few more minutes..._

_Dilapidated and dark, the inside of the sparring arena was a twisted mess of collapsed passageways and dimly lit corridors. Backtracking several times he finally found an unobstructed entrance to the main locker room through a hole in a wall. Ducking through the gap he broke into a run, scrambling from locker to locker, wrenching aside each rusted door in his quest for salvation._

_Empty._

_Empty._

_Empty again. He cursed violently. There had to be something here he could use. He heard another burst of automatic fire and the sound of creaking metal coming from the direction of the entrance. That barricade wasn't going to hold for long..._

_"Come on, come on...give me a sign...anything, something-"_

_He moved to the end of the row and stopped at the last locker. A set of numbers glowed dully through all the accumulated filth and rust, standing out amidst the gloom. They were...a date. It was a calendar date, a few days in the future. He blinked and looked around again, making a final check of the lockers but still finding nothing. He returned back to the one with glowing numbers. This had to mean something. It was important, he knew that, but didn't know why or how. With a thrill of anticipation he pulled on the door to see what was inside. Maybe Crocea Mors? _

_It wasn't there. But there was something else lying against the wall of the rusted dusteel container..._

_The first part that caught his eye was an ancient worn stock, gouged and chipped. A well-oiled action connected to a massive barrel and tube magazine confirming it as some kind of shotgun. Removing the weapon and shouldering it, he could feel the solid weight and balance, the craftsmanship obvious even under the dust of neglect._

_He turned the gun over and continued to inspect it._ _It was definitely old and heavily used, the metal and wood chipped and stained by the oil of many hands. He couldn't figure out why it was here. None of his fellow first years used shotguns as far as he knew. Most seemed to prefer the flashier rifles or machine pistols or even more exotic contraptions like Ruby's Sniper-Scythe. Turning it over he noticed something gouged into the metal. Unlike the other abuses this weapon had endured, this one appeared deliberate and he rubbed clear some grime to get a better look. Neatly engraved in the metal above the ejection port, a single word was visible in the dim light of the room._

**_Mercy._**

_He blinked once. Then his head exploded in pain._

**_-weren't you the star huntress in your graduating class?-_**

_Crumpling to his knees he heard the shotgun clatter to the ground. _

**_-was the eldest Arc child. I had a "Legacy" to uphold-_**

_He grasped his hands to his head. Through closed eyes another vision assaulted him as he tried to make sense of it all._

**_I'm coming up there-DON'T YOU DARE drop out of Beacon before we've talked-_**

_..._

_"Jean..." _

_As quickly as the vision had arrived, it had vanished leaving behind his sister's name. This was her weapon, it would save him. His sister was protecting him, even here. How could he have forgotten? This weapon never left her side from the moment she stepped out of the house, even when she was home from Beacon during the breaks she was never without it. 'Sometimes you just need a shot of Mercy' she always liked to joke. The girth of its barrel left no doubt that a single shot would probably be all one needed to deal with an enemy short of a Goliath._

_An enemy...was Ren an enemy? Jaune turned back towards entrance. Even now he could hear the twisted creature in the distance, trying to break through, to continue the hunt. Was that a demon or Ren? Deciding that it would be better not to have to find out, he grabbed a bandolier of shells from the back of the locker and turned to head out the other exit, towards the arena proper. He hadn't made it 20 feet when he found his way blocked. Another cave in. The ceiling had collapsed with so much force it had punched a hole in the floor down to the lower level. He peered down trying to see the bottom. _

**_So that's Ren dealt with, and finally this pink pain in the ass-_**

_"Oh no..."_

**_Too dangerous this one. Time to put this little Viking down for good... _**

_"STOP! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHY ARE YOU SHOWING ME THIS?"_

**_What the hell are you doing? SHE'S A THREAT! SHE GOT IN YOUR WAY! STOP INTERFERING!_**

_"STOP DAMMIT! YOU'LL KILL HER! YOU'LL KILL NORA!"_

**_I SAID GET OUT!_**

_The vision collapsed into him like a blow to the head. He stumbled, and before he could recover his balance, tumbled through the hole in the floor. The impact reverberated through the whole arena as he felt the air punched from his lungs. Coughing furiously amidst the dust and debris, he scrambled to his feet. He couldn't really tell where he was; so much had decayed or rusted away he couldn't make out much in the dim light that filtered through the ceiling. Scrambling over to the closest door, he found himself in a narrow hallway connected to a stairway leading back up. He broke into a run again, taking the stairs two at a time._

_First Ren, now Nora. Half his team was hurt...possibly dying. And it was because of him? What about Pyrrha? The thought of something like that happening to her was too much to bear. He had to get to the comm tower. If he could just get there..._

_Another burst of gunfire sounded through the building, followed by an even louder crash. The sound was from inside this time - his hasty barricade having failed. Even as his grip tightened around Mercy's hilt he didn't want to fight, if he could find his way out of here before that thing did, maybe he wouldn't have to. The stairs opened into another hallway adjoining the arena. He moved as quickly and quietly as he could, his progress hampered by yet more collapsed sections and obstacles before finally picking his way through and ascending into the arena proper. _

_It had certainly seen better days..._

_Whole sections of holopanel flooring were gone, electrical lights dangled_ _from the ceiling_ _in a spiders web of crossed wires, and the crumbled remains of the stands slumped in a rotten heap in the corner. Amidst all the wreckage he spotted another pair of exit doors at the other side and broke into a run, the wide open expanse of the sparring floor a welcome relief to his abused legs and arms. He was almost to the door when the sound of several large objects hitting the ground made him turn. Out of the corner of his eye he saw three large pink cylinders bouncing merrily towards him..._

_"Oh shi-"_

_He didn't so much hear the explosion as feel it. Barely helped by the tattered remnants of his armor the pink shockwave blasted him through the doors and several feet into the courtyard beyond where he tumbled along the ground for half a dozen more yards. As quickly as his body would allow he pushed himself to his hands and knees, shaking his head and trying to clear his vision and stop the ringing in his ears. Through the misty smoke coming from the charred hole in the wall, another shadowy figure emerged. This one was smaller than the one he had seen previously but wielded a gigantic hammer in its abnormally large arms._

_"Nora!? Why are you-"_

_Before he could question her presence in this hellscape she was joined by the wraith of Ren at the entrance hole, his pistols out and trained forward. Dealing with Ren and those machine pistols was one thing...but Nora and her grenade launcher on top of that? _

_"Guys...guys come on...this isn't funny. Why are you doing this? Is this some kind of joke, some kind of stupid training thing you came up with?"_

_They didn't appear to be listening. Nora had transformed Maginhild back into its launcher form and had it pointed in his direction. He searched around for something he could use for cover when his eyes fell upon the wall behind them. The explosion had cracked it pretty badly above the hole, and there was that overhang that normally covered the door..._

_With a thrill of terror he raised Mercy, aiming the shotgun at the wall above them and fired. Mercy bucked hard and nearly flew out of his grip as it belched a large exploding sabot round towards his teammates. Even the beast of a shotgun wasn't in the same league as Nora's grenade launcher, but it had enough power to blast a large section of wall away and rain debris down upon them._ _Racking the empty shell out of the gun, he turned and sprinted back towards the center of campus as fast as his legs would carry him. _

_He didn't follow any specific route as he ran, taking lefts and rights at random as he made his way through Beacon. If he kept mixing things up he should be able to confuse them enough to finally get to where he had to go. He pushed his aching body faster and faster, his breath tearing at his throat as he wove his way through alleyways and classrooms, terror refusing to let his body rest or slow down. Had to reach the Comm tower, it didn't matter how lightheaded he was becoming, it didn't matter how his chest felt like it would burst, he just had to get there-_

**_-had to defeat that annoying red head..._**

_What? No, that wasn't what he-_

_-__**always getting in the way, always one-upping me. Have to kill her. **_

_He stumbled but kept running. Kill who? He didn't want to kill anyone! Where was the comm tower, why-_

_-__**are my attacks always missing? This doesn't make any-**_

**_-_**_sense..._

_Beacon. __**Dorm. Pyrrha.**__ Nora. Ren. Everything mixed together._

**_Kill her!_**

_Save her?_

_"SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT IT MEANS! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?! JEAN! PYRRHA! ANYBODY!"_

* * *

Pyrrha panted heavily as a bead of sweat rolled down her face. Jaune was getting up again. Getting up from just having his nose caved in from her shield. He had gotten up from the knee to the liver. A move she swore never to use again after it had almost killed a competitor in her 3rd Mistral Championship, and he had shrugged it off like it was nothing. His shield dangled from his shattered arm, yet he still tried to keep using it. Tears joined the rivulets of sweat trickling down through her cheeks. She hated that she had to keep doing this to him. Why wouldn't he just stay down? How could his body endure this punishment?

"Jaune...please...please stop this! I don't want to keep hurting you! Just lay down and stop fighting!"

Jaune grunted through a broken jaw. He wavered unsteadily as he advanced a few steps forward then charged awkwardly, his sword raised again for another strike. She redirected the blade to harmlessly strike their dorm carpet. His ankle twisted and he stumbled forward on the follow through, the fall accentuated as she sidestepped and smashed the edge of her buckler into the back of his skull with an audible crunch. He should have fallen. He should have just flopped to ground like a puppet with no strings and stayed there, but he barely dropped a a knee before rolling away from her, awkwardly pushing himself back up to his feet.

"YOU DEMONIC WITCH! HOW DO YOU KEEP DODGING MY ATTACKS!? I AM AN ARC! YOU SHOULD BE ON YOUR KNEES BEFORE ME!" Jaune spat loudly, flecks of blood and spittle flying everywhere as he charged again, not even bothering to swing a weapon this time. Pyrrha used her semblance to yank hard on the shield still clutched in his broken arm. Still attached to his arm the shield slammed into the ground, pulling Jaune's body down on top of it. She winced as she heard the sound of splintering bone from across the room. Grunting with the effort he tilted his head upwards to look at her. The hate and sickening aura was there but amidst the rage and loathing she could see something else.

Fear.

She knew that look, having seen it so many times before in matches. That moment when the opponent realized who they were dealing with, when the hope of victory was extinguished as a candle in a howling storm. Despair usually followed, sapping the will of even the strongest opponent. For once you took away hope the battle was over, even the strongest opponent became helpless, desperate.

Across the room Jaune shuddered to his feet and slowly raised his weapon, Pyrrha prepared for another incoming charge, when Jaune's whole body went rigid, his sword dropping from his hand.

"I am the master of this body! Not you!" He screamed, his eyes went wild, not even looking at Pyrrha as he spoke. She watched as he he thrashed, spasms running through his broken frame, scattering drops of blood across the room.

"You think you're fighting back against me?!" Jaune yelled again, clapping bloody hands to his head. "I have only begun to fight! You will not have the mantle of the Arc! I would rather the Legacy of the Arc die with me than rest on your shoulders!"

Locking eyes with Pyrrha, Jaune hissed in a gurgling whisper. "Just as soon as I deal with you..."

_They were coming. As much as he wanted to call out to Pyrrha, the thundering sound of running footsteps forced him to his feet. He briefly wondered if he had time to run and reach the comm tower, but the decision was soon taken out of his hands. Nora and Ren came into sight across the courtyard and were rapidly approaching, far swifter than his broken body could run. _

**_"I will give you credit boy."_**_A rumbling voice boomed across the campus.__** "You certainly are staying true to the Arc tendency of being a stubborn ass."**_

_He whipped around. Standing in front of the main fountain stood his ancient ancestor and tormentor. Charlemagne towered over him with his black, oily presence. Burning eyes gazed upon him and through him, radiating contempt. _

**_"You simply don't know when to give up do you? You reject the gifts I grant you, you ignore the advice I give freely, and now you would be arrogant enough to defy me here, in my domain? Were you always this foolish or is this another gift from those milksows you call family?"_**

_The demon closed the distance between them, its presence filling the air with a toxic cloud. Pointing Crocea Mors towards him, it continued. _

**_"There will be no more messing about with the likes of you. Since you are unfit to hold the responsibility of the Arc lineage, I will have to do it for you. You two!"_**_He barked towards Ren and Nora, the shadowy doppelgangers of his friends taking position to either side of him. __**"Dispose of this pile of filth. His presence disgusts me."**_

_The two wraiths turned towards Jaune in unison. Fixing their corpse-like eyes upon him they raised their weapons and advanced, their footfalls a drumline of impending doom._

_"Guys! Come on...please just talk to me dammit!" He pleaded as he backed away, gripping Mercy tightly in his hands. His voice did not appear to reach them. Their expressions remained unchanged as their eyes fixed on his own, filling his vision with a malevolent emptiness as their weapons trained upon him._

**_"I did warn you boy. You chose not to bend them to your will and see where it has led you! Did I not warn you they would betray you? Did I not explicitly say you had to break them in order for them to truly follow you?"_**_The demon stalked behind the two shadows, mocking him with undisguised contempt. _

**_"And now here you are, at the mercy of lesser beings. These pathetic souls should cower under your might! Are you going to just stand there and die like a sniveling crippled Grimm or are you going to fight back?!"_**

_Jaune stood rooted to the spot. Was this really what he had to do? Was fighting them the only way out of this? There had to be a way, anything to avoid hurting his friends. He looked from them to Charlemagne. That pitiless gaze told him what he was was expected to do, but..._

_"No..." He whispered. "I'm not playing your grim-dammed game anymore!" He raised his voice to a shout and threw the shotgun aside. The clatter of steel hitting stone echoed across the courtyard, freezing the two wraiths in place. Nora cocked her head sideways, while Ren appeared to lower his pistols a fraction of an inch._

**_"What are you-?"_**_Charlemagne began but was cut off. _

_"Screw this. I'm not going to fight you. You're my friends. I'd rather die than hurt any of you and I know you'd do the same for me." Jaune took a step towards them, ignoring the incredulous Charlemagne in the distance to focus on his friends, jabbing his finger in their direction. They flinched and re-aimed their weapons towards him._

_"I know the real Ren and Nora are in there somewhere. And I_ _should have told you guys this more often, but I'm glad I got to meet you both. I'm proud to have you on my team. I know I haven't been the best leader, or even a good one. And for that I'm sorry. I've been such a big pain in the ass with so many things..."_

_As he spoke, strange warmth blossomed from within him. Extending from his chest and out to his hands, it pushed aside the sheer terror he was feeling at trying to talk down two gun toting wraiths, washing over his senses and calming his mind. _

_"...can you please forgive me? Can you put your faith in me one more time? I swear on my life I will do everything in my power to become the leader you deserve and an even better friend to you guys. I swear this as an Arc..." His voice ice he locked locked eyes with the demon Charlemagne again, defiance etched across his face. _

_"...and Arcs never go back on our promises."_

_Four figures stood motionless, the moment dragging on as they looked at him with curious expressions. Then, slowly, their weapons wavered, and then began to lower. Charlemagne flared with anger and grew larger. _

**_"Empty words from a dead man. Enough of this nonsense! You two! I order you to kill him. NOW!"_**

_The two wraiths didn't move. They stood there staring at him, as if seeing something for the first time. _

**_"Did you not hear me? I am ordering you to-!"_**

_It was then that Jaune noticed their eyes. No longer the corpse-like white they were just moments before, Nora's sparkling turquoise and Ren's vibrant pink practically glowed from their sockets. He could feel it, though their faces couldn't really show it, there was no mistaking that friendly warmth now emanating from the pair of them._ _They were back. His team was back._

_As one they turned and positioned themselves between the demon Charlemagne and Jaune, their weapons rising once more, and pointed their weapons towards it. Trading looks of shock, Jaune was the first to move. Diving towards his sister's weapon, he had just managed to shoulder it and turn back to face Charlemagne when the world as he knew it ended. _

_His body broke. There was no other way to describe it. He collapsed back to the ground, coughing up gobs of blood. Fresh explosions of pain burst through him, tearing apart his insides. He felt a hole open in his chest, an impact that knocked him to the ground and robbed him of his voice. He tried to scream but only a strangled gasp passed his lips, blood bubbling up from his lips. _

**_"Not bad boy. Turning my troops against me like that. An admirable effort! But I'm the one in charge here, not you..."_**_He turned to Ren and Nora standing guard in front him._

**_"And my word is law!" _**_He hissed dangerously. And without another word he charged. _

_The pair scattered. Jaune could only watch as they darted about the courtyard pouring automatic fire and grenades into the demon. The synergy was impressive, the massive explosions forced the demon to duck behind the shield and the machine pistols poured a veritable avalanche of rounds into him, scoring hits here and there, keeping him cowering._

_Charlemagne roared with savage fury, extending tendrils of shadow across the courtyard as each impact flared across his charred armor. Keeping the shield up he rushed towards the shadowy copy of Nora, letting the shield absorb the stream of grenades she fired on him. The shadow quickly backpedaled and switched the launcher to its hammer form. With a leap she met his charge full on, slamming the hammer upon his shield. _

_Ren wasn't sitting idle and with the demon's attention focused on Nora he closed in upon the demon from the rear, forgoing the ranged abilities of his pistols and making use of his gun blades. With a flurry of slashes and stabs, he rained down blows upon Charlemagne's unprotected back, tearing deep gouges in his dark, oily armor. _

**_"2 versus 1 then? Were you a pair of Deathstalkers I might have considered this a warmup!" _**

_He let the hammer strike his shield full on, the sound echoed savagely across the open grounds before the follow-up explosion from the hammer drowned it out. Charlemagne let the force of the explosion carry him backwards towards Ren who had been trying to aim for Charlemagne's neck and couldn't get out of the way. _

_Charlemagne slammed into Ren with a force Jaune could feel resonate through the ground. Knocking him backwards with his shield, the demon slashed upwards with his sword, catching Ren's arm, and cleaving it clean off. Ren stumbled backwards from the strike, his mangled stump spraying oily black blood everywhere. He tried to raise his remaining good arm to fire back, but Charlemagne gave him no quarter, rapidly advancing upon him and with a mighty cleave, lopped Ren's head from his body. _

_Nora's scream of rage sounded where Jaune's could not. Coughing up a glob of blood and bile_, _he watched in silent agony as Nora charged the demon again, her fel energies crackling around her as her rage exploded from within. She detonated a grenade in the hammer head, propelling the swing even faster, aiming to crush Charlemagne where he stood. He dodged the strike with almost relaxed ease, batting aside the hammer with the shield then lunging with his sword. Off balance from the attack, Nora was impaled, the once shiny blade sprouting out of her spine, covered in sticky black blood. With a quick yank, Charlemagne withdrew the sword and she crumpled to the ground._

_Jaune seethed in silence as he watched the the shadowy remains of his friends dissolve into the dust of the dead courtyard. They were gone. Just as quickly as he had reunited with them, just when he felt whole again, they had been taken from him. The pain of the sudden loss outweighed his physical torment, an ache worse than the fire, worse than anything. He looked up. Charlemagne loomed before him, a leering grin covering his horrific face as he gazed down upon the broken knight._

**_"And so the mighty Jaune Arc fails yet again. Failed to protect your comrades. Failed to bring them under your control...I'd like to say I'm surprised, but this seems par for the course, failure, failure, failure."_**_He paced in front of Jaune, lecturing him as if he were a slow pupil. _

**_"I had hoped to keep you compliant; I gave you the calm solitude you wanted didn't I? You would not have had to struggle anymore, just let me take the reins...but I suppose you're too foolish to know what's good for you, a problem too many of our lineage suffer from, I'm afraid."_**_Charlemagne snapped his fingers and more bones broke inside Jaune, each one a miniature detonation of pain. His shield arm. A rib. Several ribs. His collarbone. His jaw. One by one, he could hear the bones splinter and shatter within him. Why wouldn't he just pass out? How was he still going? _

**_"I can keep going you know..."_**_The demon drew closer; his burning eyes filled his blurred vision. __**"...I've only given you a taste of the agony you've yet to experience. Is that what you want? Is shattering your soul along with your body what you want boy?!" **__The demon roared, his oily voice pounding its way into Jaune's abused skull._

_As much pain as he was feeling, as much as he wanted to pass out from the overwhelming assault on his senses, Jaune somehow remained conscious. Boiling rage had replaced the peaceful warmth he had experienced just moments before, and with it, the shotgun planted into the ground for stability Jaune forced himself back to his feet,_ _looking through the haze of pain at his target._ _Merely stopping the demon wasn't enough. The fury building inside his wrecked body demanded more. A hoard of beouwulves attacking a defenseless settlement could have hardly felt more savage than he was feeling right now. _

**_"Ahhh, now that's what I want to see!"_**_Charlemagne pointed at Jaune with fiendish glee. __**"Let that battle lust flow through you! THAT is what I expect from an Arc. The battlefield is our home boy! Our slain foes is the foundation, the tribute of conquered lands our furnishings! Come! Your baptism begins now!" **_

_And with a flourish, the demon flicked off the blood and deftly sheathed Crocea Mors into the shield and gestured across the field. From behind him, the last of team JNPR stepped forward into view. She was a walking maelstrom of beauty and horror. Her once-golden armor glowed red like blood, matching her fiery hair and blackening her skin. What were once vibrant emerald eyes now resembled pits of twisting felfire. The wraith of Pyrrha Nikos silently walked forward, assumed her traditional battle stance, and stood ready. _

**_"Come then boy, you managed to turn the others against me. Do you think you can do the same with her? Your champion? Your...lover?"_**_Charlemagne emphasized the last part with particular sarcasm from behind Pyrrha. _

_With his strength ebbing away, Jaune stood on shaky legs, leaning against Mercy for support, mind grinding to a halt as he gaped at his remaining teammate. The mere sight of her corrupted form sapped the remaining energy from him. How could he fight her? His body broken and his will almost the same; he called out to her in earnest. _

_"Pyrrha...please don't do this...it's me...Jaune. Your team leader, your friend." His voice cracked, his feeble plea was all he managed to croak out. It was harder to speak now...his body wasn't responding to the commands coming from his head. The only thing keeping him standing, he couldn't even raise Mercy to be of any use even if he wanted to, not with a useless arm or a chest that felt like it was collapsing upon himself._

_Pyrrha looked sideways at Charlemagne, as if for instruction. He gave a jerk of his massive head towards Jaune and Pyrrha nodded and charged. She hadn't taken more than a few paces when she lunged with her Javelin from across the courtyard. Jaune had a moment to contemplate what she was trying to do when he felt something hard impact his stomach. _

_A flash of pain exploded from his midsection, knocking the wind out of him. Stumbling from the impact, he fell towards the ground only to stop halfway down. _

_Pitched forward he looked down to see something sticking out of his stomach. Through the fog of pain, he tried to make sense of what it was when it suddenly jerked violently in his hands. Following the shaft of spear across the courtyard he saw Pyrrha standing by Charlemagne, the extended spear that now impaled Jaune still clutched in her dark hands. _

_Warm blood pumped from the wound, spilling down his front and staining his pants. He gasped in pain as he felt it jerk again. He slid a few inches down the spear, his blood providing easier travel along the golden haft. Grabbing it with hands already coated with his own blood, he held on with all his remaining strength. Looking across the courtyard he stared into her eyes. _

_Was it his oblivion?_

_Or was it his anchor?_

_His life-force pumping through his fingers out onto the ground he had to find out what she ultimately would be._

Pyrrha threw Jaune down to the floor again. Despite being completely disarmed, that hadn't stopped him from trying to tackle Pyrrha and grab for her neck. How he was planning on doing that with both of his arms dangling from his sides she didn't know, but enough was enough. He was already getting back up. He wasn't stopping, and no matter how many times she tried to knock him out, disarm him, or disable him, some freakish power kept allowing him to rise again and again. The little dark voice at the back of her head was more insistent now. She generally ignored it, but when matches got particularly brutal or a mission was going badly, it got more vocal, demanding less...restrained methods of ending the fight.

Right now it was practically screaming at her. _Put him out of his misery...he's not stopping...there's only one thing left to do..._

She shook her head. There had to be another way, this wasn't Jaune it was something...something she didn't understand, but it didn't mean she had to-She couldn't even finish the thought. Jaune had almost pulled himself up to a sitting position when she decided to act. She didn't even need to charge, merely stride forward and kick him down, planting one foot on his chest to root him to the ground her javelin's blade pointed at Jaune's throat. Pink froth sprayed from his mouth along with the remaining air in his lungs.

"Ahhghh...so finally figured...what you have to do now?" Jaune coughed violently, spraying more blood and froth between broken teeth and cracked lips. He leered up at her, a terrifying expression of malice and glee. He was reveling in the pain and suffering, as if he didn't care what happened next.

"Come on then! You know what you have to do! If you don't I'll just keep getting up! Again and Again! No matter how hard you hit me, no matter how many bones you break, I'll finish what I started! I am an Arc..." Jaune's arm slowly tried to raise itself towards Pyrrha, the effort clearly taxing him to the breaking point. "..._and Arcs...keep...their promises_..."

**_"Finish him you idiot!" _**_Charlemagne's voice boomed across the courtyard, prompting another vicious tug on the spear. Jaune vaguely felt something crack near his waist and then lost all sensation in his legs. Jaune held fast as best as his tenuous grip allowed, the spear keeping him aloft like some horrid meat skewer and dragging his legs uselessly across the ground. He looked over at the pair of them. His vision was clouded and the distance seemed vast but he imagined he could see uncertainty on their faces. They had expected him to fall, to simply keel over and die, but he was still up, a final act of defiance. Acting on sheer panic, Jaune summoned the remaining strength in his arms and reached forward with his right arm, grabbing the spear and pulling himself along the shaft._

**_"What are you doing you stupid woman?! He's right there! Finish him!" _**_Panic was edging into the demon's voice now. Jaune almost laughed despite the agony he endured. Was this what truly frightened the great demon Charlemagne? A crippled, battered knight's defiance?_

_Every inch an agony he kept at it, hand over hand, like climbing up a rope hung from the bough of one of the great trees of the Arc manor. Further and further he pulled himself towards Pyrrha. She jerked the spear again, trying to shake him off but he had advanced too far up the lance for that to work anymore, his legs dragging below throwing off her balance, weighing down on her normally nimble weapon. Blood pumped vigorously from the gaping wound in his stomach, coating his hands and slickening the weapon before him, the last of his life-force smoothing his path. Charlemagne was screaming now, words Jaune couldn't understand...his senses were becoming dull...fuzzy. His vision closed in, all he could see was Pyrrha. Her face swam before him as the edges of his vision darkened ominously._

_"Just...a bit...more..." He gasped to himself as he pulled himself onward. _

_She was afraid...kept trying to-_

-Wake him up...she was crying. Why was she-

_-afraid of him? He couldn't really do anything...just had to get a little closer-_

_-_her neck was so...close...-

-_He was so close to her...just a little...bit...more..._

_And with one final pull, he was finally next to her. Her fiery green eyes went wide in fear, trying to back away yet staying in place, still holding her weapon. His bloody hand sought purchase on her shoulder, her body like a statute as he pulled himself up to eye level. They stared transfixed at one another for a fraction of time, a moment both fleeting and eternal. Surrounded by death and destruction, his lifeblood ebbing away, he reached out and cupped her scarred face with his other hand. Blood trickled down her face from where he touched her, the red drops steaming on the burning armor and cauterized flesh._

_A blinding, piercing light suddenly exploded from the contact. His arm seized up as if he had been hit with lightning dust. Thrashing violently on the spear, the sensation threatened to overwhelm him. He held her tighter, gazing into her eyes. She was his world, and he would not look away. Past the burned skin, past the demonic fire and suddenly he saw her. Not a demonic wraith, nor some puppet of a monster. He saw his teammate. Her creamy golden skin positively glowed before him and her fiery red hair was radiant as it gently shimmered in the breeze. Yet for all her beauty she looked so sad. Tears shone from her emerald eyes and the expression she wore hurt him more than any wound he had endured. _

_It hurt so much. It hurt so much to remain standing like this. The darkness had nearly overtaken him now. There were just precious seconds remaining...he had to let her know. If anything else...he had to finally tell her what lay within him... _

_"P-Pyrrha...is that you?" His voice was a whisper; sounding so far away now...could barely make it out..._

_"Yes Jaune! Is that...is that really you?" Her voice had never sounded so beautiful, even choking through painful sobs. He hoped this would somehow make...her...feel..._

_"Pyrrha...Pyrrha...I love you. I never...couldn't get myself...before...but I need to say it now...I love you...I wish I had said it sooner...but...I'm sorry-"_

_The light from the contact burned brighter than ever. It felt so good to be this close. He recalled the feeling of burning at the stake earlier in his dream journey, so long ago at yet so recent. This was much the same, yet the blaze cleansed rather than consumed, and this time the pillar against which he stood was Pyrrah, the support from which he would never stray. But for all its power, it appeared to be too little, too late. The darkness overtook his vision, drowning him in a wave of oblivion and sound, twin emerald orbs the last thing to fade from view._

It was quiet at first. His senses seemed to be report in waves, like a series of letters. Everything felt muffled...fuzzy somehow. He thought he heard...crying? Coming from far away, distant but recognizable. He tried to look around for the source but couldn't see anything...except for...

A small light off in the distance caught his attention. Mesmerized by the sight, he let it draw closer to him. The light was important, somehow. He wanted to go towards it but, he also feared it. It continued to draw closer and closer, growing from a small pinprick into a large corona of light and sound.

The crying was louder now. Clearer. He recognized it the voice. Was it...?

Pain exploded from everywhere as the light overtook him. He gagged and tasted copper. He was lying on his back, staring at a damaged ceiling. His eyes starting to focus he started to make out bullet holes and then he felt someone grasp his hand. On reflex he flinched and tried to pull away but the hand held tighter. The grip was firm, full of power and strength, but there was tenderness to it as well.

His neck screamed with each movement as he turned to look sideways, his vision still out of focus. Coming into view was Pyrrha kneeling over him. She was holding onto his hand with both of her own as tears spilled down her cheeks. He blinked, desperately trying to clear his vision to get a better look at her. She wasn't a demon trying to kill him. She was kneeling down beside him, equal parts joy and anguish playing across her face. She...had been trying to kill him...hadn't she? Or was that all some fever dream?

The questions were piling up now, faster than he could answer them. He tried to remember what had happened but it just made his head hurt to match the pain screaming at him from all over his body.

" -'rra.." He tried to speak, feeling the shards of his broken jawbone grinding against his temple. "...u..ohkay..? 'm srry..made u ry"

She squeezed his hands tighter and smiled. God she looked so beautiful to him right now. He really wished she wasn't crying like that. He never could stand someone crying like that. " 'rah...it gon' bee ohkay...gon' bee...ohkay..."

He tried to reach out towards her but the pain had finally become too much to bear. Darkness once again clouded his vision and he blacked out before he could hear her response.

**Whew! That was a doozy!**

**Good morning folks! Long time no see eh? No real excuses for the delay in this one, aside from, as you'll see the overall length. This is the longest and hardest chapter I've ever had to write, more of a fault of realizing how the storyline is progressing and having to plan it more than just a chapter in advance. I previously did not expect my story to get this long, but the longer I wrote it, the more I wanted to put into this little slice of the RWBYverse I created and it just sort of snowballed from there!**

**In any case, I won't bore you with the details (unless you're curious). I do hope you enjoy this latest chapter and hope to see you guys much sooner next time. :) I'm going to shoot for smaller chapters going forward if I can to allow for quicker updates (hopefully!)**

**As always, please comment, fav and follow if you enjoyed the work! Any feedback is always appreciated. Thanks again to Michael C. and Blood Shinobi for their endless help with their editing and revising skills. Couldn't do it without em!**

**Writing Music - **

**Halo Wars Soundtrack (Really surprised at this one, super relaxing and chill, great for long bouts of writing and trying to get me into a dreamscape mood)**

**Sabaton - Carolean's Prayer and Carolean's Rex - (Stumbled across these guys thanks to the rwby/g steam chat. Pretty good orchestral metal and great for getting pumped writing fight scenes.) **

**Fleetwood Mac - Little Lies**

**Guilty Gear XRD OST ( You want fighting music? GET IT! )**

**The Martian OST - Caprica**

**The Martian OST - Shepard (You need inspiration for an epic showdown? This will fit the bill)**


	16. Chapter 16 - Mending Wounds

Jaune swam through a mishmash of memories and dreams, jumbled and disordered in place and time. Each remembrance built on the last, noises and images cresting into a cacophonous assault on his senses, the blinding, deafening din holding him back from surrender to the nothingness of torpid slumber that his aching body so desperately desired.

Unable to escape he forced himself instead to focus, his weary mind attempting to reassert itself, to rebuild the narrative, claw its way back to the present. Things started slow. He saw a flash of Ren, Nora…Pyrrha. He wanted to call out but he couldn't make his mouth move. They were in their dorm? What were they doing here? Why did his team look so agitated?

He lost focus on the recollection for a moment and the scene swirled and changed. Clear blue sky replaced the familiar beige ceiling of his dorm room. It wasn't blood red like he thought it would be. He felt his body move and jostle around unsteadily. He heard more people, the sound of running footsteps-

Tiled ceiling. White. Water stains spreading across several of them. Moving faster now. Too many tiles. Burning. Pain . Familiar. He had smelled it recently, but where? More voices. More faces. Frightened. Anxious. People he didn't recognize. One he did-

His consciousness once again attached to the trail of experience things sped up. Blinding white light. Searing pain in his chest. He was on the stake again! He had to be, his skin burned though he could see neither smoke nor flame. Suddenly a sharp piercing of his chest, was it the snakes? No, A Needle, a red needle his chest! Unable to shift his gaze he caught a fleeting glimpse of a human shape. They came back for him! He hurt, he hurt so bad! But he wasn't alone! Others were here! Anxious shouting, screaming.

The ceiling above stopped its scrolling as he felt more movement around him. Blurred figures moved in an out of his vision too rapidly for him to focus. The pain increased and he began to panic, they were going to kill him. He had to fight, had to get free! He strained to move and heard the voices becoming agitated. Frightened. Good. They should be afraid of him, he might be Beacon's worst student but that didn't mean-

-Large woman!

Grabbing his arms pinning them down.

More screaming. More pain. Couldn't fight. Too strong. Arms were clamped down...shards of bone grinding against each other…the pain was unbearable and he wished once again to retreat into the numb depths but he couldn't. Why couldn't it be over, why couldn't he just pass out?

Different faces. Different voices. All shouting, screaming, ordered chaos swirling around him. Something about losing him? That was a funny thing to say. Why would they be losing anyone? He was right here in the center of all of them, wasn't he?

Before he could contemplate the silly thought further there was distracting relief, a wave of warm bliss washing over him, bringing with it the peaceful oblivion he had craved.

* * *

Time passed. Agony, euphoria and numbness passed over him in series, the world itself far distant until he finally rose to consciousness once again. When it finally arrived wakefulness came but grudgingly. It was like swimming through pitch, his senses slow to report the state of the world, trudging through a dense haze as he tried to process his current situation. A distant rhythmic beeping noise was the first thing he was able to fixate on, his ears straining as the periodic dings were joined by the gentle whooshing sensation of an air pump. A cool breeze tickled his nostrils. Reflexively he tried to rub his nose in response only for his arm not to respond to the command. A brief surge of panic forced his one working eye open as he sought to find an explanation why.

Oh.

Well that would explain it.

A pillow raising his head slightly allowed him to gaze down at his body, or what he presumed was his body, a pale, inflated human form spread before him. Thick, massive casts and wrappings covered the vast majority of his extremities, each encased limb further bound with large leather cuffs attached to thick metal chains bolted all around the bed. A latticework of thin metal arms securing multiple bolts were arrayed into the casts on both of his legs and left arm. Curious what they were for, he flexed one leg as he tried to shift for a closer to look. A wave of excruciating pain seared up and down his limbs making him nearly cry out in pain. He could feel them! Those bolts were in his flesh! The thought made him nauseous, his vision blurring with rising panic. Breathing deeply through the hose taped to his nostrils, it was several long minutes before he was able to calm himself and continue his investigation.

There wasn't much more to find. Able to see out of just his left eye he could focus enough to confirm that he was in a hospital room of some type, and as his sense of his own body returned he could feel his chest under the cast itching horribly. Past that there was nothing, he could barely move, the presence of the casts and, more disturbingly, the chains, making it a certainty that he wouldn't be going anywhere for a while.

His head fell back onto the pillow. Staring up at the ceiling while his mind sluggishly worked through the narcotics, he struggled to remember how he had come here. He was in a hospital, that much was certain, but which one? Was he even still at Beacon? The important details eluded him.

_Trace your steps...go back the way you came and you'll figure it out..._

He mentally repeated the mantra his oldest sister had taught him so many years ago. _Not like I'm trying to find my favorite train set this time am I? _He chuckled but instantly regretted it as the even that minor movement sent spikes of pain through his chest.

Closing his eye, he searched through his memories. The last thing he could clearly recall was sitting in the dorm room with Ren. After that things became…blurry, confused. He drank something, then fire, and pain...so much pain. Flashes of images swam before him, it like a projector being run out of order in his mind.

The sound of a door abruptly ended his reminiscence.

"Ah we're finally awake! How ya feeling Jaune?" A male nurse walked over, the man's features slowly came into focus as Jaune's one working eye blinked and swirled in its socket.

"M-Mrkus?" Jaune tried to speak further but his lips were too swollen, effectively sealing his jaw shut.

"Easy there! Let me adjust it so you can try moving it around a bit, it's still mending..." Jaune felt something being twisted on his head then something gently tugged from his nose and throat. The pressure against his jaw lessened, only to be replaced with a dull ache. "...there we go! How does that feel? Better?"

Jaune's jaw opened wider to speak, but all he managed was rasping cough, flecks of blood sprayed out to sprinkle across the white plaster entombment of his chest. Marcus retreated out of view, then came back with a plastic water bottle with a long straw attached. Jaune sipped greedily as soon as the straw was placed between his lips. His cotton dry mouth absorbed the first few gulps of water before he could swallow them. It was the best thing he had ever drank, it felt like an eternity since his tongue had last felt the cool refreshment of liquid.

"Better?" Marcus asked. Jaune nodded slowly. "Glad to hear it. You gave us quite a scare you know? It wasn't looking good for a bit, but you've stabilized now so that's a relief." He moved around the bed checking the various machines and charts. Jaune couldn't help but notice the man keeping his distance, always keeping one eye on his patient even as he worked.

"What h-happened Marcus? Why a-am I here?" Jaune's voice barely carried through the room.

Marcus looked up from a printout he had been reading to look directly at Jaune. A curious expression played across his face. "You really…don't remember what happened?"

"No..." Jaune began slowly, forced to take a raspy breath almost every other word. "...I remember...our dorm. I was with my t-teammate Ren. M-meditating...some kind of tonic...I d-don't know...it hurts to think." He laid his head back down on the pillow, still facing Marcus. "...Uhm...I don't suppose you could tell me what happened?" He noted again the distance Marcus was keeping between them, the look in the man's eye. Was it fear? Could it really be fear of approaching him, especially in Jaune's current helpless state?

"I was hoping you'd be able to answer that question yourself. Last time we talked you were working on your detox. Not even 48 hours later and I see you being carted in by your team looking like you decided to mosh with a herd of Ursai."

"My team! Are they ok? Where are they?!" Jaune attempted to sit up before an explosion of pain knocked the wind out of him, making him gag and fall back.

"Woah there! Hold on man don't move!" Compassionate reflex overcoming trepidation Marcus instantly closed the distance between them and gently pressed his hand down on Jaune's chest cast."Your sternum and over half your ribs were broken, okay? You need to remain lying down and let it mend."

Jaune let out a raspy sigh as he let his body relax. The dull ache returned, stronger this time after the sudden movement. "Sorry...it's all so muddled in my head. I want to remember, I just...can't right now. Please Marcus, can you tell me anything?"

Marcus fidgeted with his Scroll and looked away. It was a few seconds before he turned back and began to speak, albeit with noticeable reluctance.

"I'm not sure I should even be talking about this with you Jaune. Some really gnarly shit went down at the dorms. You...and your team are all under the microscope right now if you get my meaning..."

"Wha-What do you mean? Why are we-what?" Jaune looked back in alarm, barely remembering to restrain himself from sitting up again.

"Something happened at your dorms. I don't know all the details, but you're not the only person that got brought in. Whole buncha students got admitted. Most were just basic injuries, broken arm, sprained ankle, that kind of thing. Some though..." He paused and looked again at his chart. "Some had some more serious issues. Had a lot of cases of people freaking the hell out. Hallucinations, terrors…We went through a lot of Dust sedatives getting them calmed down…you as well." He finished with a grimace while closing the chart and hanging it back on the bed.

"I had to be calmed down?" Jaune asked, certain that Marcus knew more than he was telling.

"You uh...kinda reacted badly to the Fire Dust we had to inject into your heart to keep it pumping. You went into full cardiac arrest right as we put you on the operating table. If we're actually getting technical about it, you were clinically dead for a few minutes until the Dust started working on you."

Jaune gaped. "I-I was dead? But I still don't know how-"

"Dude, you scared Lilah, and that's saying something. First time I ever saw her actually struggle to subdue a patient." Marcus pulled the chart off the bed and extracted a packet of paper. "Especially with these injuries you had?" He waved the thick packet before putting it back into the chart folder. "I'm surprised you were even still alive when you were brought in, let alone managing to give Lilah a shiner. You've got one hell of a gas tank when it comes to aura man, I think that's the only thing that saved your life. Any other hunter, well...I doubt they would have made it past the lobby."

"H-How bad is it?" Jaune gulped.

"Just the major stuff? Nearly every rib broken, one of them a floater which was a bitch to reattach let me tell you. Multiple compound fractures in your left arm,clavicle, and both legs, dislocated shoulder and hip, herniated disc, a grab-bag of muscle and ligament tears, bruised spleen and liver, punctured lung, a concussion, multiple skull and jaw fractures, burst eardrum and a detached retina. And that's just the big ticket stuff, if there's more than a square inch of your body under that cast that isn't scarred, burned or bruised I'd be shocked."

Jaune looked down at his bandaged body in alarm as the list stretched on and on. Panic bubbled at the edge of his mind at the realization of how close he had come to death. He started to fidget only to stop as fiery lances of pain reminded him of his predicament.

"Dammit Jaune stop moving ok!?" Marcus pressed his hand against the casts again. "Look, you're not going to die. We've got you stable and no one is going to bother you for at least the next couple of days on my orders. Alright?"

Jaune nodded weakly. The up and down surge of adrenaline coupled with the narcotics were already had him feeling drowsy, his one good eyelid already drooping heavily.

"Good. Now get some rest. One of the nurses will be by later to check on your meds and see if you can stomach some food. _Don't move your arms and legs! _Those bolts are there for a reason and we need your limbs to set properly."

"Thanks Marcus. S-Sorry about all this..." Jaune mumbled weakly.

Marcus shrugged. "Hey it's my job man. Still..." He glanced towards the door and fidgeted with his scroll again. "...look it's already past the point of telling you to be careful, but I'm going to say it anyway. Just...be prepared for some rather tough questions later ok? Right now your team is saying it was a 'Dust accident' in your dorm that caused your injuries, but a lot of folks aren't buying it, especially Goodwitch. She's going to grill you, probably with Ozpin there as well. No sense in sugarcoating it, so get as much rest as you can before then, alright?" Jaune was unable to come up with a response before Marcus had hastily walked towards the door and gently closed, and locked, Jaune noted, the room behind him.

Jaune's head buzzed with unanswered questions. A Dust accident? Was that what happened? The few scattered breadcrumbs of information he had accumulated didn't seem to point in that direction. Survivors of Dust accidents aren't chained to their beds for one thing. Did that mean _he _had done something terrible? Was that why Marcus was so evasive with him?

He sighed tiredly. He wanted his team. They'd know what to do, they'd be able to tell him what was going on. Where were they anyway? And why hadn't they been here waiting to see him when he woke up? A shiver of fear went through his body at the thought that they too were injured. He craned his neck around to see if there was some button or speaker he could use to summon a nurse to find out for him but found nothing. Grumbling to himself, he laid his head back down and reluctantly surrendered to the grasping arms of sleep.

* * *

Jaune awoke feeling as though he hadn't slept at all. Something had been pursuing him in his slumber. He couldn't define it, it was there...waiting for him but at the same time eluding his comprehension. Blinking his eye he looked around the room and noted the change in lighting. The sun was lower in the sky now, painting the inside of his room with a dull crimson glow. He tried looking around for a clock to figure out how long he had been asleep when his vision fell upon a sleeping figure in a chair by the wall.

"Ren?" Jaune croaked.

Ren jolted his head up and looked around. Seeing Jaune looking up from his bed, his face broke into a tired smile and he lurched over with a slight limp.

"You're finally awake. Thank the dust." Ren whispered. As his teammate came closer into view, Jaune gaped slightly at his appearance. Ren's normally neatly combed hair hung down his face in greasy bangs, and dark circles were visible under bloodshot eyes. It didn't take much to guess Ren hadn't slept well, and the combination of his smell and his disheveled clothes suggested he hadn't washed recently either.

"Damn Ren...you look like hell...I don't think I've ever seen you with so much as a wrinkled tunic before today. Are you ok?"

Ren chuckled quietly. "Compared to you?" His eye's ran up and down Jaune's plaster-encased body, "I'll be fine, but thanks." He paused before continuing. "It's just been a long day and these chairs aren't exactly the most comfortable things to sleep in." Ren stretched his arms and back to work the kinks that had accumulated. "I talked with Ozpin and Goodwitch. The conversation was...less than pleasant. I had to sneak in here after I was done with them, didn't want to wake you, guess I dozed off."

Jaune struggled to shift his head to see better. "You ok? What were they asking you about?"

"They wanted to know what happened to us Jaune. Well, I should clarify, us and the fifty or so students from the dorms. Things are a bit tense right now."

"Tense? What do you mean? What happened?" Jaune craned his neck closer as far as the mix of bandages and restraints would allow.

A mix of disbelief and shock even greater than Marcus had given him earlier played across Ren's face for the briefest of moments before he turned and brought the chair closer to the bed and sat back down. Ren's magenta eyes locked with Jaune and his expression turned serious. "What was the last thing you remember Jaune?" He finally asked, his voice a whisper.

Jaune sighed in pained irritation. Why wouldn't anyone simply tell him what had happened? He swallowed then began talking slowly. "I remember...sitting in our dorm. You had just shown me more of that meditation stuff and I started drinking those tonics..." He trailed off as he ran into the same murky wall as before, his memory an unwilling partner to his efforts. "...I remember fire...fighting something...lots of pain." He shook his head, wincing at the movement. "I still can't really remember much after that. I wish I could but..." He did his best approximation of a shrug, the metal hinges rooted into his arm giving out a slight creak at the motion.

Ren nodded. "That certainly fits with what I saw..." He paused and then began to quietly explain what happened where Jaune left off. Jaune said nothing as Ren went on to describe the fight between them but his good eye widened in horror, the bits of his face not covered by bandages now just as pale as the white wrappings as Ren then recounted Nora's and Pyrrha's encounters with their team captain.

They both sat in uncomfortable silence as Ren finished his retelling of events. Jaune felt like he wanted to throw up again. He had no reason to doubt what Ren was saying, but believing it was another thing entirely.

He had attacked his teammates.

His friends.

He had turned his own weapon against them. Not in a controlled sparring session, but in real honest to Grimm combat, and nearly _killed _them in the process. If Pyrrha hadn't stopped him...The thought didn't bear contemplating. He was searching for the words to begin apologizing for his actions, trying to find something to say to at least partially atone for the magnitudes of his sins when Ren spoke again.

"This is all my fault. I should have noticed something was wrong after the first tonic but I wanted to keep going. I wanted to see you recover...I messed things up so terribly..."

Jaune tried to sit up, worry overriding the barbs of pain flaring across his chest. "Woah woah woah! Are _you _apologizing for what happened?"

Ren bristled. "Obviously. I was the one who formulated the tonics and administered them to you. You were my patient, I should have seen the signs, should have stopped when-"

"Bullshit!" Jaune shot back, anger flaring in his voice.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me Ren, that's bullshit and you know it." He tried raising himself further off the bed only to fall back down as chains hit their limits and casts held him firm. His one eye fixated on Ren with a steady glare.

"I may have taken several knocks to the head, but I still remember enough of what we talked about when we started this. I'm the one who drank the tonics, I'm the one who took the risks and went whacko on you guys, not you."

Ren blinked then leaned forward as if to beg forgiveness. "But I should have prevented this from happening! I noticed something was wrong and I ignored it! How can you say this isn't my fault?"

"Dude, you even said that I was completely fucking up everything you knew about Dust poisoning! And didn't I say I wouldn't hold you responsible for what might happen? That I was proud I had a teammate willing to go to bat for me like that? I meant it then and I mean it now man! Hell from what you've said I should be the one apologizing!" Jaune tried to jerk his remaining uncasted arm towards Ren but had it stopped by the thick chain and cuff.

"I attacked you guys! From the sounds of it, I might have even tried to kill you! Nora especially! How the fuck am I going to lead you guys ever again?! Or continue attending Beacon?! Hell, forget that! Look at this!" He shook the chain attached to his arm. It rattled violently against his bedframe.

"This is why Marcus didn't want to get close to me! This is why he was avoiding talking or even looking at me! I'm some raging animal that has to be chained up to a bed and kept in a cage. If that's what happens well..." He paused. The thought momentarily shook his frustration that had been sustaining his tirade."...well I guess I'll have to face it then." He finished quietly and shook his head.

"It's my responsibility to face not yours. You were only trying to help and I still think you are, but I can't have you take the fall for me, it just...it just wouldn't be right." He leaned back onto his pillow, drained by the outburst.

Ren sat silently for a few moments marveling at his captain. Even now, after everything that had happened, he doggedly insisted on taking the blame, refusing to accept the possibility that his team had done something wrong. While Ren appreciated the sentiment in the moment, he worried that wearing those sorts of blinders would serve Jaune less well before a different audience.

"That's...very kind of you Jaune, but-"

Jaune jerked his head towards him. "Ren, don't start. There is nothing you can say that will convince me it wasn't my fault."

"I believe I can, or at least partially anyway." He replied evenly.

Jaune turned towards him again. "What are you talking about?"

"You still don't remember anything after you drank the tonics correct?"

"For the 20th time no I don't!" He jerked his free hand again as if to throw it up in frustration before coming up short at the end of a chain. "I remember the tonic and nothing afterwards, but you told me what happened - I attacked you! I attacked all of you…"

"But that is precisely the point Jaune. Did you recall what I told you earlier? Yes, I was attacked, but not by the Jaune Arc I've trained with for the past several months. You weren't yourself."

Jaune rolled his eye. "That's doesn't change anything, and won't help my case if that's what you're getting at! _Sorry Professor Ozpin, I can explain! It was a Jaune colored clone of me doing the stabbing!"_ He snorted derisively.

Ren continued on, disregarding Jaune's retort. "No, actually, it's very important. A person's aura is unique. Like a fingerprint or DNA, their aura signature is something that sets them apart from anyone. When you took that second tonic, I felt your aura retreat and disappear, to be replaced by something…other. I can't say exactly what it was, or where it came from, only that it was foul and terrible, and most certainly _not __you_."

"Wait wait wait...I thought the only difference between auras was what you can do with it?"He replied, eye squinted in confusion."Like…Nora's got her electricity, Ruby her speed…"

"That's just their Semblance." Ren replied shaking his head. "Recall what Goodwitch said in her classes. An aura is extension of our soul, our Semblance is merely a manifestation and concentration of that Aura. And that underlying Aura is still unique. That may have been your body swinging that sword and shield, that wasn't your 'soul' controlling it."

Jaune gaped at Ren's pronouncement, wincing at the shooting pain in his lungs from the sharp intake. His head joined the throbbing of pain throughout his body, the chains coming up short as he tried to rub his temples for relief. The meds must be wearing off…a double-edged sword as it gave him additional clarity to focus on the confusing things Ren was describing.

"So let me get this straight. You're saying I have more than one soul? That there's another...person inside of me? How is that even possible?"

"There's been research about this, dating back to when Auras were first discovered. Some of it was even done by my family, though from a more spiritual/theoretical perspective. As to your situation…there have been stories and anecdotal evidence regarding multi-aura potential, but nothing definitive to prove that it actually occurs."

"Great." Jaune muttered. "So we're back where we started."He yanked on his chains to punctuate the point with a clatter.

"I'm not finished. While multi-aura theory hasn't been explicitly been proven, there are reams of literature on how Dust interacts with Aura, how it can affect, alter, even completely change the characteristic profile of an aura. In other words, there is enough circumstantial evidence out there to prove that an aura can be drastically changed by different applications of Dust. Further, there is even more material available documenting how Dust can affect one's mental state. That's most likely what occurred with you and what we'll use as an explanation, if necessary."

"If necessary?" the remains of Jaune's visible eyebrow arched up slightly.

"Right now I've told Ozpin and Goodwitch that this all happened due to me modifying and experimenting with Dust propellants for Stormflower and Nora's Magnhild. They cooked off and ruptured a gas line going through the ceiling of our room and that you and Nora took the brunt of the explosion. Your injuries are passably consistent with that and since our fighting did actually rupture a gas line, that's the explanation Nora, Pyrrha, and I are sticking to right now. Hopefully they'll buy it..." He finished with some visible uncertainty.

"...And...if they don't?" Jaune asked quietly.

"Well as I said, there's enough information lying around that proves improper exposure to Dust can lead to mental "episodes". Ozpin may be willing to chalk it up to that, saying you were accidentally exposed to Dust in our dorm due to my experiments and that you went berserk. While that should protect you from expulsion or prison it still may result in a medical or psychiatric confinement. That's about the best we can hope for given how spectacularly this whole thing went down. I'm sorry Jaune." The pair again lapsed into uncomfortable silence. The thought of what lay ahead for them and the team hung heavily in the room as each hunter contemplated the future.

The meds were definitely wearing off, Jaune was certain now, but the strengthening pulses of pain granted him a clarity that he clung to as his mind raced ahead. Expulsion, Prison or a Mental Ward? Those were certainly cheerful possibilities. And that was just what the school would do, far more concerning would be how he'd have to explain this to his family, his father.

The thought of that encounter alone chilled his bones in the otherwise warm room. Jean would understand his situation...hopefully. Before she had always known what to do when he had faced some sensitive problem or question, but how would she handle this? Even if everything was successfully explained away as a "Dust accident", the possibility of his hunter career ending like this was not something he could deal with as easily. The bravado of a few days prior when he had contemplated quitting dissolved under this harsh new reality. After all, Jean had been more or less disowned by the family since striking on her own path, what would happen to him? Would he too be thrown out like Jean had been? She had done it willingly and by all accounts was thriving, but she was far stronger than he was and Jaune had no such illusions that he'd handle it anywhere near as well.

Not well.

Not well at all.

He had to find a way to fix things. He couldn't bear the thought of having to face his family or his team like this. The accumulated shame would be worse than any injury he'd endured. No, his dream of becoming a hunter couldn't end here. He wouldn't let it. He would do whatever was necessary to get back out into the field and back in classes. And to do that he'd need...

"How are they Ren? Is Nora ok? Pyrrha?" Jaune finally asked, his voice cracking and hoarse.

The sudden question startled Ren out of his contemplation. "Well...out of all of us Pyrrha is probably the best off. She's definitely shaken but no physical damage. I've got a few cracked ribs myself but I'm already healing well enough. Marcus said to take it easy for a day or so but then I will be back to normal. What we need to do is focus on getting you back on your feet more than anything. Marcus let me see your chart, it's amazing you're still-"

"What about Nora?" Jaune asked quietly.

Ren hesitated before responding. "She's fine Jaune. Bit roughed up, but nothing she can't handle, you know how she is. She rides Ursai for fun when she gets bored."

It was the forcibly calm tone that told Jaune Ren wasn't being entirely truthful with him. He wanted to press further but in the interest of trying to avoid as much conflict as possible, decided to drop it for now. Ren had to have had his reasons for not telling him. He only hoped that it wasn't something more serious.

The afternoon wore on and the two of them continued chatting, about his recovery, what to say to Ozpin and Glynda, and what he had missed in classes. The sun was glowing a dull orange in the late afternoon sky when finally Ren rose, noting that he had to get back to the dorm to help with the cleanup. Gas explosion or not, they still had to make that place livable again. Jaune said goodbye to his teammate and resumed his silent contemplation of the ceiling, his only company the whirring and beeping of the machines surrounding his bed.

* * *

With nothing else to do he spent long minutes staring at a stain on the ceiling that reminded him of Pyrrha's shield when he heard the door to his room open again. Jaune looked up in anticipation, hoping for another member of his team only to see a rather large mass of messy dark hair followed by a stern looking face.

"Oh! Uh...hey..." Jaune gulped reflexively.

Lilah frowned as she covered the distance to the bed in two broad strides. Unlike Marcus she came right up to the edge, roughly grabbing his charts. "Looks like you're not dead yet. Are we going to have any problems today Mr. Arc?"

Jaune saw a large bruise blossoming under one of her eyes and a menacing look that made him want to bury his head under the covers."Uhm...no ma'am...n-no problems here..." He gulped only for it to morph into a rough cough in his parched throat.

"Good. You stay nice and quiet and maybe we won't have to add another injury to the laundry list I've got here." Handing him a cup of water and a straw she went through her checks quickly, noting a few things on the chart and replacing the massive bags of IV fluids and assorted drugs that hung over his bed like the branches of a fel willow. Jaune said nothing as she went through her work, sipping softly and deciding that staying quiet was the safest thing to do around her, and trying to help himself from gawking at her biceps that matched the size of his skull. She replaced the chart on his bed and turned to look at him.

"Alright then, I've upped the dosage of your pain killers Mr. Arc. Your body seems to be absorbing them unusually fast but this is as high as I'm willing to go. For now you can have access to self dosing mechanism there." She pointed to a small button next to his bed. "If you feel your pain increasing you can self-administer a dose at your convenience. And don't try to be a tough guy and go without them, that will only slow your recovery and I'll have to keep taking care of you, something I'm not too keen on continuing, Hippocratic oath or not." Her voice was calm, but it radiated the kind of authority that one dared not question, size difference or not.

"Yes ma'am. And thanks for taking care of me. S-sorry about your eye and all. Marcus told me I did that but..."

Her expression softened slightly. "It's no big deal, we did have to pump a lot of that stuff into you, some sort of reaction was to be expected. In any case you should be fine for now, another nurse will be by in a few hours to check up. Get some rest, you'll need it." Without another word she turned and left the room, the door locking behind once again.

_Get more rest_. That was all everyone seemed to be telling him to do. He wanted to rip off these casts and bolts and just run out of here. Partly from frustration, but the more honest part of him admitted it was fear. The prospect of having to explain himself to Ozpin, Goodwitch and the rest of his team was not something he could contemplate lightly. Ren had absolved him, hell he wanted to take all of the heat for what had happened, but what about the rest? Would Pyrrha be willing to forgive him? Or Nora? He had no idea how she'd react. Ren had been hurt, and Jaune had seen first hand what she did to Grimm who managed to land hits on her precious partner especially the aftermath when she'd spend an afternoon picking bits of body parts out of Magnhild's mechanisms. Alone with nothing but his thoughts the possible scenarios spun through his head for the next several hours before he the culmination of mental effort and the occasional tap of the dispenser button caused him to slip off into narcotic induced slumber.

The next two days, at least he thought it was two days, passed in a blur. Nurses and doctors streamed in and out of his room as his body continued its painful recovery. The news of his extensive injuries and the fact he had survived them had turned him into a bit of a medical celebrity. Few seemed willing to linger or come within arms reach but Jaune caught snippets of conversation and mutterings from visitors as they came and went. Ranging from awe at the care he had been receiving to shock that he wasn't dead, it culminated when a group of 20 students from a nearby medical school were led past his room by Lilah to show off the reconstructive work being done on his arm and legs. Between the looks of shock and hushed whispers one would think he was seconds away from death. He didn't voice such feelings however, one look from the bear-like nurse was enough to ensure quiet compliance as she went over her handiwork.

Despite the extra traffic, however he didn't see Marcus at all after that first conversation. It worried him in a detached sort of way. Had the friendly nurse gotten in trouble for warning Jaune about Ozpin and Goodwitch?

It was late in the afternoon of the third day when the last of the visiting medical staff finally left and Jaune found himself alone. Despite lying idle for the whole day, the constant stream of meds into his system coupled with his inability to really relax with everyone hovering around him had tired him out in its own way. He found himself actually relishing the brief moment of solitude, even as he glanced down at what passed for his dinner - only the second time he'd been given solid food since his admittance

He looked down at the tray with unmasked disgust. All the technology and Dust in Remnant, and they couldn't prepare something that didn't fit into the 'slop' and 'glorp' categories. Swallowing what he thought was applesauce with a grimace, he heard the door open. Expecting yet another nurse he didn't bother looking up as he pushed his tray back.

"Uh hey, don't mean to be a bother but could I get some water please? No offense, but this food isn't exactly kind on my mouth."

"Indeed. I never did care for the applesauce here myself. They never seem to use enough cinnamon."

Jaune looked up as his heart made a valiant attempt to break out of his chest.

"P-P-Professor Ozpin? And Professor G-Goodwitch?" Jaune managed to stammer out, spitting bits of food from his mouth.

Ozpin smiled indulgently and handed him a paper napkin. "How are you feeling Mr. Arc? Your injuries are healing well?"

Struggling with the chain Jaune hurriedly wiped the last bit of applesauce from his mouth. "Uh yes sir!...at least I think so anyway. The nurses don't really talk to me all that much, but I'm using less of the pain meds so I guess that's a good sign?" He gestured towards the massive IV tree by his bed.

Ozpin frowned slightly. "And this is not merely due to bravado I take it Mr. Arc? Trying to power through pain on this level will do nothing more than-"

"-I know, I know slow my recovery and-" Jaune stopped and went pale again at realizing he had just interrupted the headmaster of Beacon. Looking up into the headmaster's eyes Jaune winced, the expression on Professor Goodwitch's face enough to make a Beowulf run for the hills.

"-Oh god Professor I'm so sorry I didn't mean to interrupt, I've just heard this from multiple nurses already and I..." He trailed off as he saw a grin suddenly playing across the headmaster's lips, though Goodwitch continued to glower down.

"Not to worry Mr. Arc, doctors and nurses have their responsibilities to tend to. I trust they are treating you well?"

"Yeah, I guess. Like I said they don't say much to me. Apparently I accidentally gave one of them a black eye when I was brought in here." He grimaced. "She uh, doesn't like me very much."

Ozpin nodded gently. "Understandable, but nothing personal, I am certain. Well Mr. Arc, no sense dancing around the subject any longer. Do you know why we are here?"

"Y-yeah, I'm guessing this has to do with the whole thing at the dorms."

"Yes, we are all quite interested to hear your version of events." Goodwitch spoke crisply, the barbed words of the most feared disciplinarian at the school sliced through the air. She tapped at her scroll pad as she looked back at him."What, exactly, happened in your dorm earlier this week?"

Jaune took a few steadying breaths then began describing events as he and Ren had agreed upon. The recounting lasted for several uninterrupted minutes with Ozpin placidly sipping his coffee and Goodwitch's scowl deepened with each passing moment.

"...and that's pretty much it. I uh, unfortunately don't recall what happened after he began mixing the Dust. I just remembered a bright pink flash, and then I woke up on the floor staring at a ceiling full of holes. S-Sorry I couldn't be more specific..." He wilted as he tried to shift away from the accusatorially livid glare from Goodwitch.

"I see..." She hissed dangerously. "So you have no knowledge of how you and your teammates sustained your injuries? Or how to answer reports from other students that claim to have heard the sounds of combat coming from your dorm room? Or how to explain the numerous sickened students admitted to this hospital?" He voice grew more piercingly shrill with each question as her calm demeanor started to crack.

"I uh, I don't know I'm sorry. I haven't really had much contact with my team really-"

"Do not lie to us Mr. Arc!"She snapped. "We are aware that your teammate Lie Ren visited you before we had the chance to speak with you. Did you conspire as to what you were going to say to us? Concoct a story to get yourself out of trouble perhaps?"

Color returned to Jaune's cheeks and his heart started beating faster, though not from fear.

"No Professor!" He shot back indignantly."He just wanted to see me. He even slept in that chair over there waiting for me to wake up!" He tried to motion towards the single chair in the room but the gesture was made awkward as he drew up against the limits of the chain once again. "He was worried about me, and wanted to make sure that I was ok and wanted to apologize for-" Jaune stopped abruptly.

Goodwitch saw the opening and pounced. "Apologize? For what? What did he do Mr. Arc?"

Jaune's mind raced. For the first time since talking about their alibi, he realized that Ren really could end up taking the full blame for this incident. Tampering with Dust rounds inside a dorm room was bad enough, but injuring his teammates and poisoning students...?

"...well that is to say Professor..." Jaune stumbled playing for time as he glanced between the two of them. "He...he wanted to apologize that he wasn't able to properly formulate the Dust rounds as I had asked him to..."

Goodwitch blinked in surprise. It appeared she hadn't been expecting the conversation to turn in this direction. Sensing the confusion, Jaune quickly pressed on. "You see, he had been helping me with my recovery after that physical you asked me to get. His family taught him a lot about Dust and healing, so I asked him if he had any ideas on how to deal with my...my issues... While he was working on that, I also asked him if he knew anything about improving the Dust rounds he and Nora use. The last couple of times we used them out in the field, well, I felt they could have had a bit more "oomph" you know?"

"...a bit. more…'oomph'you say? And I take it this is your professional assessment as a 1st year hunter in training? Tell me Mr. Arc, how much experience do you have with Dust chemistry?"

"Uhh...well not much but-"

"Or perhaps weapons development?"

"Well nothing really but-"

"Any experience setting up proper facilities or safety standards for dealing with hazardous materials?"

"I don't know any of that professor but-" Jaune was growing increasingly frustrated with each interruption. Balling his uninjured hand into a tight fist he saw Ozpin shoot a sideways glance at Glynda as she continued her interrogation.

"So what made you think you were qualified to set up a Dust manufacturing lab in your dorm room Mr. Arc? Do you have any idea how much damage this has caused? Or could have caused had the gas leak cascaded more severely?!" Now Goodwitch was nearly shouting, abandoning her normally reserved demeanor.

"I. Don't. Know. Professor." Jaune muttered through gritted teeth. His ears were buzzing. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his face neutral as the barrage of questions assaulted him. "I just asked Ren to help out, I didn't think something like this would happen."

"That's right Mr. Arc, you didn't think. But I do think, I think far, far more than you foolish students. And do you know _what _it is I think, hmm? What I think, is that you, you and your entire team, are lying to us."

"I'm not lying!" Jaune shouted, tossing caution to the wind. "I just asked him to help me and my team! He didn't do anything wrong!"

"I know of Lie Ren's knowledge of Dust Mr. Arc! It was on his transcript when he applied to Beacon!" She snapped back. "However smart the boy may be, I don't think for a second he had, or would have claimed to have, the knowledge to formulate any Dust propellants of the sort you describe. Furthermore, regardless of his abilities, they do not give your team carte blanche to conduct these kinds of experiments in student housing! This is not something that can be excused! You all could have died! You and Ms. Valkyrie nearly did so!"

It was the first time he'd heard her name since his deflected inquiry to Ren and Jaune lurched up onto his elbow, barely held back by the restraints. "Wait! What happened to Nora?! Is she ok?!"

"Ms. Valkyrie suffered severe blunt force trauma to her head and has a concussion. Despite her injuries, she was able to recover and was discharged yesterday. Like you she seems to have rather prodigious Aura reserves which seem to have saved her from more serious harm." Goodwitch finished curtly.

Jaune collapsed back onto his bed and exhaled loudly. "Oh thank Dust, I'm so glad she's ok. I-I didn't know. No one's told me anything." The relief was palpable on his voice.

"Indeed that is good news..." Ozpin said calmly as he re-asserted control of the conversation. "...between the four of you, you accumulated by far the most injuries out of this incident. Mr. Ren suffered several bruised ribs whilst Ms. Nikos emerged unscathed. Given the nature of the incident, things could have easily been worse than they are now." He paused and took another sip from his mug. "Still, that does bring us back to the issue of your team conducting unauthorized Dust experiments in student dormitories. I hope you can understand the gravity of the issue here."

Jaune looked up at Ozpin with a worried expression. "Y-Yes Professor. I just want to say I'm sorry for what happened and I take full responsibility for it. I never meant for this to get out of hand. My team just wanted to help and I trusted their judgment on getting it done."

Ozpin nodded. "That is indeed admirable of your team Mr. Arc. It shows resourcefulness and a bond usually found in teams that have been together far longer than yours have. I can only hope that all of the teams leave here having developed that same level of loyalty to each other. That said, honorable as their intentions were, this situation still warrants some form of disciplinary action. Your room and parts of the dorm were severely damaged by this incident and multiple students were sickened or injured. This must be handled accordingly." He paused and sipped his coffee again, seemingly indifferent to the tense looks he was getting from the others in the room.

"Therefore..." He continued after a moment's contemplation. "...for the next two weeks after classes finish for the day, team Juniper will assist the Janitorial staff in repairing the damage done both to your room, the dorms and anything else that needs working on around the school. You will not be assigned any missions and any off-campus activities will be suspended for your entire team during this duration." He finished simply.

"Ozpin!" Goodwitch nearly shouted before Jaune could say anything. "That's it?! Surely something like this demands something more substantial! We nearly lost two students-"

"-A fact of which I'm sure Mr. Arc is quite aware of Glynda, particularly given that he IS one of those students." Ozpin cut across her. "The incident, while terrible, was not borne out of any malicious intent. There is no sense in punishing them further given the injuries they have already sustained. I'm certain this will be lesson enough to never attempt something like this again. Would I be correct in that assessment?" He looked rather pointedly back at Jaune who immediately nodded.

"Yes Professor! I won't try anything like this again, I swear it!"

Ozpin turned to face Glynda. "And haven't you always complained of needing help repairing the damage to the sparring arena after each class? I'm sure this will help lighten your workload."Ozpin smiled in quiet triumph.

"Y-yes...I'm sure the extra help will be wonderful." She hissed through clenched teeth. Jaune could practically see the waves of anger radiating from her body as Ozpin turned back to him.

"Now that's settled then. Mr. Arc your punishment will begin from the day you are discharged from the hospital. Do not take that as an excuse to dally, however, I expect you to rest up and follow the orders of the medical staff. No matter how annoying they may appear to you, they do have your best interests in mind. We will inform your team of the punishment later today so you shall not have to trouble yourself with that."

"Yes sir." Jaune responded quietly, contemplating two weeks under a very peeved Goodwitch. _As if she doesn't have enough reasons to hate me already._He groused to himself. He could only begin to imagine the fresh hells she had planned for him, though at least he'd have his team with him...if they didn't try to kill him for this first. Looking up he saw the two headmasters had reached the door to his room before Ozpin turned towards him.

"Ah yes I did forget to mention one more thing."

"Yes?" Jaune replied. He wondered what other potential sandbag was falling towards his head.

"While you are recovering I have specifically exempted your team from visiting hours restrictions here at the hospital. You've developed strong bonds between your teammates, and I won't keep you from continuing to strengthen them. Please have a good evening."

And with that they left the room leaving Jaune's cheeks burning at the remark for how big of a lie it was. Bonds? What Bonds? Ok so he had managed to keep his team and himself from getting kicked out of Beacon...but how was he ever going to face them again? Or lead them? Ren had his back, at least in regards to this instance but...Nora...Pyrrha...what about them? Would they even want him back as a leader? Or to even have him in the same team?

The thought struck him in a moment of frank terror. What if they wanted him off the team? Told Ozpin they didn't want to work with him anymore? That might open up more questions though. Ozpin seemed to have believed the story about them trying to help him recover faster, and although that technically wasn't a lie, the fallout from finding the real "truth" could be way worse than the punishment they'd gotten. They could reveal, in a moment of spite or anger, what had really happened, and if that came out he'd be packing his bags before the days end. Never to return to Beacon, never to be a Hunter, never to see Pyrrha again...

He blinked away tears as memories of that morning workout session bubbled back to the front of his mind. It seemed so long ago now. That wonderful moment where they had hugged and had reaffirmed their commitment to helping each other and...something else? Yes, definitely something more. He wanted it to be more, much more if he was being honest but-

_Well that's probably not going to happen now is it_? He asked himself rhetorically. He'd sunk his chances just as assuredly as the Salisbury Steak served at the cafeteria tasted like old shoe leather. She'd never treat him with the same kindness or solicitude ever again. The best he could hope for was that they didn't try to get him reassigned or quit or...something. Three and a half more years with a team, half of whom probably hated him and another who felt guilty for his failure to function as a leader. Was this what being on team Cardinal was like?

_Then what about the training_? He suddenly realized with alarm. Pyrrha's one on one training sessions had been the only thing keeping him even halfway competent during sparring classes and few missions. If those stopped...

He started to cry in pent up frustration. How had everything gone so completely sideways? All he had wanted to do was become a hunter. Be a true hero that everyone looked up to, something his family could look upon with pride instead of the resigned pity they seemed to reserve for him. Now what was he going to do? _Could_ he do anything? He didn't even know where to begin. He turned over possible scenarios in his head far into the night, when, finally exhausted by the accumulated stresses of the day, sleep finally overtook his troubled mind.

**Good morning folks! **

**Once again I do apologize for the delay in getting this chapter up, it was a doozy to try and craft a believable scenario for Jaune to recover from what he did, but I think I managed it well enough! :) Hope you enjoy and I always appreciate the feedback and commentary as always. Thanks for coming along so far!**


	17. Chapter 17 - and Fences

**Good morning Folks!**

**Another day another chapter. This one is a bit of a slow burn as Jaune continues to struggle with the fallout with his team. Thanks again as always for enjoying my little take on the RWBYverse. As always, feedback and comments are always appreciated. Please enjoy!**

**EDIT: Somehow the damn doc manager bolded the entire chapter on my first upload. Thanks to the kind reader who let me know. It should be fixed now.**

* * *

Golden rays of the dawn crept over the cliffs surrounding Beacon Academy to herald a new day. Though classes wouldn't start for several hours the school already hummed with activity. The kitchens were hard at work preparing the mountain of food needed to feed the voracious appetites of the students and faculty ("The local savages" as the kitchen staff liked to refer to them), as some of the more zealously active members of the student body were already jogging around campus or practicing non-contact sparring. For three members of team Juniper the dawn heralded naught but the end to another painful, sleep-deprived night.

Pyrrha rose first, wincing with pain as she pushed herself up from the unyielding wooden floor. Though accustomed to hard living and stress first as a tournament champion and now as a trainee hunter, there just wasn't much one could do with the remains of half a mattress, a rug, and a hastily purchased sleeping bag to to make hard wooden floors comfortable to sleep on.

_At least we still have a roof. Well.. technically._ she thought grumpily as she stared at the half dozen holes in the ceiling. Extracting herself from the sleeping bag, she started in on her normal regimen of calisthenics and stretches, wincing at the ever increasing stiffness in her back. Her thoughts kept bringing her back to last night as her gaze wandered about the still wrecked dorm room.

Ren had warned them something like this might happen. With all of them agreeing to use the story of Ren illegally experimenting with Dust inside their room there had been the risk that they would share in the punishment. So it hadn't been a total surprise when Ozpin announced that the repairs of their room would be tied to the completion of a two week detention for their entire team. Forewarning hadn't prevented Nora from taking the news badly and Pyrrha figured Ren's presence in the room was the only thing that had kept her from leaping to her feet and slugging Ozpin in the face as he made his announcement. Pyrrha had never seen such a murderous look cross Nora's face before, not even when fighting Grimm. It had taken 30 of Ren's special pancakes that night before she had calmed down enough to go to sleep.

_Still, couldn't they they at least give us proper beds before Jaune gets released?_ She pondered as she went through another set of sit-ups. Like their other questions of late, there was no answer. Each of the three of them had been separately interviewed by the two headmasters in the days prior, and while Professor Goodwitch had looked skeptical at their rehearsed, near identical retelling of the incident, Ozpin had accepted their stories with nothing more than a nod.

The three of them had breathed a sigh of relief until last night when the two week detention had been handed down. Ok so yes, unauthorized Dust experiments were a pretty serious offense, but even so, this felt sudden and draconian. It didn't mesh at all with official campus policy (which technically would have seen them expelled, but still) and it had seemed that Ozpin was going to let them off with "lesson learned" in light of their contriteness and guilt over the fallout and their teammate's suffering.

And then something changed, suddenly they were culprits now. The thought stopped her midrep. None of them had seen Jaune or told him of the plan. Had he shifted the blame somehow?

She had gone and pumped out another hundred pushups coming to a conclusion. No, that sounded too petty for Jaune, even in spite of what had happened. His stubborn desire to go it alone and not burden them with his problems was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. The thought that he would reverse all of that to shift blame back to them... to her, no, it couldn't have. Unless he thought he was being helpful?

She shook her head,_ Jaune..._ While his intentions were noble, that didn't stop the thought of him from sparking a scowl of irritation clouding her face as she sweated through the last of her exercises. Ren's whole cover story hinged on the fact that they had all banded together to help Jaune recover and experiment with his tonics and weapons. Well, that and the gamble that the school wouldn't want the scandal of expelling an entire team for an illegal Dust accident. None of it was technically a lie, but she doubted an outside observer would count their version as anything but deception if the whole story came out, which was far from a comforting thought. Though according to Ren it had been necessary to keep Jaune from getting expelled, which in the end, was what mattered wasn't it?

Sighing tiredly she padded across to the wrecked bathroom. In spite of the damage it had endured, their shower still worked though sans hot water. _Probably some broken pipe within the wall, or maybe this is part of the punishment too?_ She could only guess at this point. Gritting her teeth she stepped into the stall, enduring the bone-chilling spray as she hurriedly scrubbed herself clean. The frigid water at least had the benefit of chasing away even the most stubborn of morning cobwebs.

By the time she stepped back into the main room Ren and Nora were awake as well, getting a start on their day. Ren had already resumed the seemingly endless cleanup while Nora finished dressing herself on the end of her bed. Hers was the only bed to have survived the fight with Jaune unscathed and, despite her protests, they had insisted she get to sleep on it. That and pancakes were all they could do to keep her mood on an even keel since the incident. The change in Nora's demeanor troubled Pyrrha, though she hadn't yet found a way to talk about it with Ren. Never one to shy away from a challenge lately Nora had been more on edge, quicker to snap, quicker to lash out at other students who teased her or Ren and was now regularly prone to what Ren politely termed "Fits of the Sullens" that required the bulk of his free time.

"Morning everyone!" Pyrrha greeted as she pulled her uniform from the pile of her clothes she had stacked into the corner of the room. The remains of her dresser being in the school dumpster, another casualty.

"Good morning Pyrrha. Did you manage to sleep well?" Ren called back from behind the remains of his bed. He conjured a smile as he forced another Dustpan full of debris and shell casings into an already overflowing trash can.

"Mmm" She replied dryly. "Well as could be expected I suppose. Are you still cleaning up those shell casings? I thought we had found the last of them."

"I found one in my hair last night!" Nora chirped in cheerfully. "Your Stormflower is pretty messy Ren, it spits those things everywhere!" She flicked the empty Dust shell into the can with a grin.

"Says the lady who uses an automatic grenade launcher." He replied with a smirk and a gesture towards the scorched and blasted walls.

"Hey! Magnhild isn't messy! She's thorough!" She proclaimed proudly.

"Yea..." He drawled with a smirk before turning to Pyrrha. "What does our schedule look like today?"

Pyrrha flicked open her Scroll and scanned the day's schedule. "Huh...looks like Goodwitch pushed back the morning sparring class two hours later 'due to unforeseen repairs.' " The pair of them looked at Nora who crossed her arms with a huff.

"It's not my fault Cardin made such a big crater in the arena! He shouldn't wear so much armor in the first place!"

"But did you really have to punt him into the shield generator afterwards Nora?" Ren asked tiredly.

"Well that finally shut his big mouth didn't it?" She snapped. "He should learn to use it for something other than making fun of people, like cleaning the toilets on the first floor. That poopy head."

"I'll give you that, but maybe scale back destruction of school property at least for this semester?" Pyrrha sighed, not wanting to agitate her teammate further. Still, she couldn't fault Nora for taking out her frustrations on Cardin. Ever since Jaune had ended up in the hospital, wild rumors had been circulating on what exactly had happened in JNPR's dorm room. The most popular one, perhaps not started by but certainly gleefully helped along by Cardin and his teammates, was that the explosion stemmed from Jaune trying to attach a Dust rifle to his sword. Such idiocy of course led to non stop muttering and snickering following them wherever they went on campus, only abating when Nora threatened to break legs "_for REAL THIS TIME!_"

Pyrrha was ashamed to admit that Cardin's "gunsword" rumor was being more readily accepted than the cover they had crafted for the headmasters. To the student body, it just sounded like another case of Jaune Arc screwing up again. On top of that, someone had snuck into their room while they had been out and taken pictures of the damage, the resulting images having swiftly spread throughout the school's Scroll-net, further cementing Jaune's and by extension, team JNPR's reputation as the biggest walking disaster on campus.

It made Pyrrha's blood boil. Jaune and Nora had nearly died, their room was a complete wreck, and people either didn't care or thought it was a joke. Well ok, that was a bit of exaggeration; Ruby and her team had swung by to help with the cleanup at least. It had certainly helped to have Yang's strength and Weiss' glyphs to move some of the larger debris out to the dumpster and team RWBY had even asked when they could come over to visit Jaune in the hospital. It was nice that their two teams had each other but it sometimes felt like the four girls were JNPR's only friends at Beacon.

"Hey Ren..." Pyrrha called. "...Ozpin said we could visit Jaune in the hospital whenever we wanted, correct?"

The question made Ren and Nora stop. Ren instantly shot a nervous glance towards Nora whose expression, moments before bubbly and cheerful, had already darkened like a rapidly approaching summer storm at the mention of the dreaded 'J-word'. "Y-yes, that's right, he said we can visit him whenever we...ah...whenever we want to. Pretty much as long as Jaune's not in surgery or something..." He trailed off as sparks started crackling through Nora's hair.

Pyrrha caught the signal and almost stopped herself, before gritting her teeth and deciding enough was enough. They had been tip-toeing around the topic of Jaune for the last couple of days, trying to keep Nora's emotions under control while they figured out what to do. "Well since we now have a spare couple of hours, I figured we could finally visit Jaune, he probably misses us a great deal and..." She glanced at Nora. "...well I think it'd be good for the team, show him that we're thinking of him." Pyrrha finished hurriedly, bracing herself against the positively dangerous look Nora was sending her way.

Ren put down the Dustpan and slowly approached Nora, sitting down on the floor in front of her to look up at her face. With a smooth motion, he reached out to gently grasp her hands. Sparks arced dangerously as Ren's hands touched her, the flash of energy surrounding the two of them and filling the room with the harsh scent of ozone. If the shock pained him, he didn't show it as he gently traced circles on her hands with his thumbs in an attempt to calm the angry Valkyrie.

"Nora..." Ren cooed, staring serenely into her storm filled eyes. "...I know you're still mad at Jaune for what he did. But I told you, it wasn't entirely his fault. You understand, right?"

Nora looked down at her lap and muttered something unintelligible as Ren pressed on. "What happened was terrible, I don't deny it. I'm sorry he hurt you, I can't even begin to imagine what that was like. But it's my fault just as much as it is his. I was the one supervising his therapy, his taking those drugs was my responsibility."

Pyrrha stood a few feet away from the pair not daring to so much as move, much less interrupt lest Nora turn back in her direction. Hardened in the tournament circuit she was not one to be surprised or intimidated by the gaze of Human or Grimm, but this was different. The look in Nora's eyes nearly made her heart stop. It was the purest form of rage she had ever seen, a consuming inferno only held back only by whatever Ren was doing right now. Pyrrha unconsciously checked around the room for where she had placed Milo and Akuo, calculating if she could equip them faster than Nora could ready her own weapon. Despite the weapon weighing as much as she did, Nora had the proven ability to move her hammer far faster than should be physically reasonable.

"Talk to me Nora. Please." Ren continued gently, his gaze never wavering from her face.

"Why are you taking his side?" Nora mumbled, barely loud enough to be heard. "He hurt you Ren. He hurt me. He attacked Pyrrha!" Her voice increasing in volume with each citation of Jaune's crimes as the ionization of her semblance sparked.

"I'm not taking anyone's side but ours Nora. If we don't stick together-" Nora leapt off the bed before Ren could speak further, almost bowling him over in the process.

"What if I don't want to stick together Ren?!" She shouted suddenly, waving her fists around as her semblance crackled around her. "Why should we do anything for him? What if he goes all crazy again?! On a mission surrounded by Grimm? We gonna give him another chance to kill us then huh? He should just be kicked out of Beacon, we don't need him! You and Pyrrha can take care of the team!"

Following the lightning of her anger and the thunder of her rage, the rain of her tears flowed over her cheeks as she continued to rant between unsteady breaths. The pain she had been holding back for the past few days had broken free, bottled up wells of emotion not so easily stemmed.

Ren slowly rose his feet but stayed at arms length, letting her tirade lose steam and peeter out before speaking. "And what happens then Nora? If he gets kicked out of Beacon we'll be a partial team. Hunters work in groups of four - Professor Ozpin won't allow us to proceed through the semester until our team is rebuilt or, more likely, he scatters us across other teams who have lost members." It was sort of the worst kept secret at Beacon. Despite providing some of the best training regimens Remnant had to offer to aspiring hunters, the school still lost a percentage of their students due to training accidents or bad missions. If a team was down a member they typically were placed on a reserve status, unable to go into the field nor officially receive their team-combat certification that was part of an aspiring hunters graduation requirements.

"Is breaking apart our team what you really want out of this? He is our friend, and he hurt us, yes, but is getting back at him worth breaking us up?"

"I'LL NEVER LET THEM TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME! I'LL KILL THEM!" Nora shouted, her eyes once again wild with fury. One of the scant remaining untouched portions of carpet blackened as her semblance arced out to strike the floor but Ren continued to stand before her, unflinching, seemingly unaffected by the outburst as Pyrrha looked on nervously.

"And then they'll send you away too Nora. What will you do then? I can't let you go by yourself, so that means I leave too. And that would leave Pyrrha alone, are we going to wreck all of our futures? Is that something you want on your conscience?"

"No! That's-! I don't know! I just-Rrrrragh!" She yanked at her hair in frustration. "You always have to be so damn smart all the time! Why can't you just cut loose for once in your damn life! Do something stupid or...anything!" She shrieked, her semblance fizzling, the thunderstorm breaking into a mere rain of tears.

Smoothly Ren moved forward to embrace her, letting her bury her face into his chest, stroking her hair, his voice soft. "Because I leave that important task to you remember? I'm supposed to be the boring one so you can have all the fun." An amused smile began to form as he continued. "It's going to be alright. I'm not going anywhere. I'll never leave you as long as I'm still standing. You know that."

It was a almost a minute before her tears finally tapered off. Tightly gripping his damp tunic with her small hands she finally looked up. "I just...I don't want to ever see you hurt like that again. Promise me you won't leave me?" She whispered.

"I promise." He kissed her forehead and wiped her cheeks. "Now, do you want me to come with you to the hospital?"

She managed a watery giggle then took several deep breaths. "Yeah...please..." She looked over to Pyrrha. "...I guess we can go see that poopyhead." She relented with a forced smile.

Pyrrha blinked then looked to Ren for confirmation. He nodded slightly. "Oh! Well alright then!" She began, finally remembering to let out her held breath. "Let me just finish getting dressed and we can head out."

* * *

As the remainder of team JNPR made their way across Beacon's campus to the infirmary, Pyrrha found herself more withdrawn, hanging back slightly as Ren continued his efforts to bolster Nora's unstable mood. When she first proposed the trip, Pyrrha had been excited to finally see Jaune, yet as they drew closer to Beacon's infirmary her enthusiasm waned. By the time they stepped into the waiting room her eagerness at the reunion had almost fully receded, the excitement replaced by mounting dread.

_Pyrrha...Pyrrha...I love you. I never...couldn't get myself...before...but I need to say it now...I love you...I wish I had said it sooner...but...I'm sorry-_

The memory of Jaune's last words filtered back into her consciousness as she breathed in the acrid antiseptic scent of the hospital. She hadn't told anyone about what he said when she recounted the fight to Ren and Nora. Should she have? Would it come up? How in the world would she be able to talk about that in front of all of them?

She shook her head as he face flushed slightly. Given the beating she had been laying on him he probably wouldn't even remember those final moments. Strangely she found that thought even sadder than the potential awkward conversation about his final private words to her. Taking a deep breath and hoping her teammates didn't notice her distraction she approached the check in desk.

"Hello!" Pyrrha greeted to the nurse at the desk a little too loudly. This much enthusiasm this early in the morning merited a cocked eyebrow from the nurse as she glanced up from her scroll.

"And hello to you miss." The nurse finally replied dryly as her sharp eyes scanned across the trio. The morning had been slow so far – most students arrived after the sparring classes, not before and she wondered what they were here for. "What can I do for you three?"

"We're here to visit Jaune Arc. I believe he's still at this facility?" Pyrrha responded.

Without even checking the records the nurse recalled the name and immediately shook her head. Word of the Arc boy had swiftly made its way through the staff, his file having enough warning tabs to paper the entire office notice board. "Sorry but no visitors are allowed in his room. We've got orders from high up-" She gestured vaguely in the direction of the main administration building. "-no one sees him without the Headmaster's approval."

"Actually if you wouldn't mind double checking that for us? I believe there should be an exception for the members of team JNPR to visit him at any time." Pyrrha responded with what she hoped was a cheerful smile.

The nurse folded her arms. "Look lady I don't know if head trauma is a team thing but-"

"Could you check for the file again, please? I'm sure you'll find us listed there." Pyrrha interrupted, fidgeting with her fingers but still managing to keep her voice chipper and polite.

The nurse sighed then turned away from the window to extract a bulging folder from the shelf behind her desk. Numerous warnings plastered the front and back of the binder, giving it the appearance of an operations manual for some dangerous prototype weapons system. The nurse grumbled some more as she opened and tried to sift through the mounds of papers and reports stuffed haphazardly inside. After several tense minutes she finally reached a section near the back to a piece of paper, judging by the lack of creases and wrinkles to have been a recent addition.

The nurse blinked as she read the note – the florid handwriting decidedly un-doctorly, then looked the three of them over. "Please wave your scrolls at the check in point for identification please." Her tone reverted to the dull monotone she reserved for regular hospital business as she transitioned into a brief lecture on safety protocols as she directed them towards Jaune's room and they made their way out of the lobby.

"Lot quieter than when we were here last time..." Nora commented softly.

"Indeed." Pyrrha murmured. Aside from a few nurses and doctors walking the wide tiled halls, the the place seemed empty. Only the buzzing monotone of the hospital PA system broke the silence as they followed signs and made their way towards the intensive care unit. Passing through yet another security station manned by a bored looking guard, they entered the "High Risk" section of the hospital according to the placard above the corridor. Finally they stood before the door to Jaune's room - yet more warnings and notices plastered across it, alerting visitors of the hazardous nature of the patient inside.

"Not very subtle are they?" Ren commented. "I thought the one about him being a flight risk was particularly rich, especially given his current condition..." He shook his head enigmatically at the questioning looks he got from his two teammates as he motioned towards the door. "Shall we?"

Pyrrha hesitated for a moment, trying to say something as Ren reached for the doorknob.

"Ren, wait..."

"Something wrong?" Ren asked looking back.

"I...uh...can I see Jaune first, alone? Please?" Her faced flushed scarlet to near match her hair as her eyes fixated on a spot on the floor.

If the request bothered Ren he didn't show it. Pulling back from the door he turned to face her. "I understand. Nora and I will wait out here." He took a seat on a bench in the hallway where Nora joined him. "Take as much time as you need. We'll be here if you need us, ok?" He said giving her a reassuring pat on her arm. Nora's expression was decidedly less enthusiastic but she remained silent following close at his heels.

"Thanks. I shouldn't be long." Pyrrha turned to face the door. Like she used to do before a fight in her tournament days she tried to slow her heart, calm her mind...She opened the door and stepped inside.

The first thought that struck her upon entering was that they had been sent to the wrong room. The lights were dim forcing her eyes to adjust from the blasting illumination of the hallway. A single chair leaned against one wall while the bulk of the room was dominated by a hospital bed surrounded by large machines and wires. A lump of blankets and pale cloth appeared bunched upon the bed but-

"Jaune..." Her voice caught in her throat as she fumbled for the light switch, illumination finally letting her make out what the lump on the bed actually was. A motionless body lay mostly under the covers, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. Jaune's pale, wax-like skin had blended so well with the hospital sheet as to look a part of the bed itself at first glance but at the sound of his name his body stirred from its stupor, his head drifting to face her. His bleary eye contemplated her for long seconds before his unbandaged eye snapped opened in shock.

"P-Pyrrha!" What started as a shout came out more as a croak. He tried to sit up but the casts and restraints brutally asserted their control over his body. With a strangled cry of pain he collapsed back down on the bed.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha replied, reflexively rushing towards him only to stop a few feet short of his bedside. The sheet tossed aside she could now make out the rats nest of wires and wrappings covering his body, the strange metallic bolts covering his legs and arm. His one good eye bored in on her as he caught his breath from his earlier outburst, happiness clearly visible on his face despite his obvious pain and obscuring bandages.

"Ah hah, sorry about that. I'm fine. Mostly anyway." He sighed with a sheepish grin, attempting a shrug but wincing at the effort. "Guess I got a little excited there. When you opened the door I figured you were another nurse or doctor coming in to gawk at me not being dead yet."

"Dead!? Wait! What!?" She nearly shrieked in alarm.

"It's not a big deal!..." He quickly responded. "...well not now anyway..." He went on to explain about the attentions he had been receiving in the hospital over the past few days. "I even had the head of Vale's Medical School visit me personally today, old guy couldn't stop babbling how it was a miracle I wasn't dead. Great bedside manner." He rolled his one good eye to show what he really thought about that. "Still...it's really good to see you. I wondered when ah...when I was going to see you guys again. Where's Ren and Nora?" He looked around the room as if they might be hiding behind her somehow.

The question caught Pyrrha short. She had been so eager to see him again, but the walk through the hospital had stripped that desire away and replaced it with...what? Part of her wanted to take a page from Nora's book and scream at the man who had been the cause of so much suffering. On the other hand looking upon the casts and bolts embedded into his pallid flesh, and the way he looked back up at her made her want to reach out and comfort him, to somehow ease the pain and depression behind his thin facade of braggadocio. Emotionally torn she remained stoic, staring mutely at his body.

"It isn't as bad as it looks. I've had some the best doctors working on me and I'm on the home stretch now. At least that's what they keep telling me anyway. And hey they moved me back up to feeding myself! So yeah! Progress!" His uninjured hand flashed a thumbs up as his dry, cracked lips curled up into a small grin.

It faded quickly as he saw Pyrrha continuing to stare wordlessly down at him.

"Pyrrha. Please talk to me. What's on your mind?"

"Jaune..." Pyrrha whispered, finally breaking out of her fugue. "...what...happened? They said you were hurt but...I didn't think...what did I do- what did I do to you?!"

"It's no big deal Pyrrha..." He tried to explain. "...I told you I'm already through the worst of it and-"

"Jaune please don't lie to me. How bad is it?" She demanded, finally bringing herself to meet his gaze, the look in her eyes halting the excuse in his throat.

He hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "I guess you could say I got roughed up pretty badly by you three. It's probably quicker if you just read my chart..." He gestured towards the clipboard at the edge of his bed. "...though at this point it'd be easier to say what _wasn't_ broken in my body than what was."

"You're being unusually chipper for someone in the intensive care unit." Pyrrha replied as she finally broke the stare to retrieve the chart from the hook on the bed frame.

"It's my way of coping with the boredom. Several days of being cooped up in here is making me go a bit stir crazy." Jaune said, immediately regretting his choice of words. He looked back towards her expecting another glare, but Pyrrha appeared to have not noticed the flippant remark as she skimmed through the paperwork. Jaune watched as her eyes grew wider and wider as they traced down one page and on to the next.

_...multiple broken ribs...Left and Right Tibias shattered...multiple compound fractures in left arm..._

The clinical sundown of his trauma made her insides contract into a tight ball, nearly every noted injury paired with it a memory of the strike that had caused it. Reliving the memory of their fight she wrestled with the fact that, despite the beating she was reading the aftermath of, he had ultimately attacked them. She could recall that horrible voice and burning green eyes staring back from his face that possessing demon, horrid doppelganger, a fell fetch.

It was hard to reconcile the three of them, the Jaune that was her friend (or was it more than that? a tiny voice asked.), the one she fought and the one now lain out before her. Beaten and bruised, encased in metal and plaster, it still looked more like Jaune than that thing she fought in his skin and yet... This whole mess had plunged a wedge between them, a gulf so big that even though she was almost within arm's reach of him she found herself unable to muster the courage to approach and comfort him. And yet... despite their separation there was a connection between them still. She took a deep breath and set the chart back on hook on his bed.

"Jaune." She fixated on him once more. A quiet desperation gleamed in her emerald orbs as they bored in on him.

"Yeah Pyrrha?"

"I...need to ask you something. I need you to be completely and totally honest with me right now. None of your jokes, no trying to brush it off."

"S-sure...what do you want to say?"

She clasped her hands together to stop them from fidgeting. "Jaune, I want you to tell me everything you can remember about what happened back in the dorm. Not the story you told Ozpin, not the story you think I want to hear, but the truth, all of it." She took a deep breath, her emotion causing his chains to flutter as if in a silent breeze. "What happened after you left with Ren?"

Despite his already decrepit state Jaune shrank before her. His one good eye closed then opened again as he looked back at her, anguish creasing his pale skin. It was several long seconds before he began to speak.

"Somehow I knew..." He began. "...I just knew you were going to ask." He took another deep breath. "We returned to the dorm, I started taking my medicine while Ren walked me through some meditation techniques and then... " He paused, looking up at her like a scared puppy anticipating punishment. "I...don't really know for sure Pyrrha." He admitted, watching as her shoulders stiffen with disappointment. "I tried to tell Ren what happened when he visited before, which I assume he got from you and Nora. But the truth of it is..." He paused then stared vacantly at the ceiling. "...I have two memories, part of it in the room, part of it... elsewhere, and even though I know one of them was a dream they mix and twist together until it's all just flashes of images and sound. Fragments. It's hard to explain, like I'm watching a sparring vid with one eye while fighting an actual opponent with my other..."

Pyrrha clenched her hands in anticipation. "Well...what can you tell me then? What do you remember about the fight in the room? Against Ren, against Nora... against me?"

Jaune's eye slid further out of focus. "I remember the meditation, Ren thought it would help me handle the tonics better. At first it did, I felt calm, peaceful, and then..." He paused to swallow, his voice even more coarse as he continued. He needed water, his throat was drying out the more he spoke, but he couldn't stop, his desire to answer Pyrrha's request strong enough to overcome the fear of reliving his nightmare.

"I...I drank one...hurt like hell...then drank another...something...it all went wrong…" He murmured.

"What happened then Jaune? Do you remember Ren or Nora? What about me?" She coaxed .

He turned to stare at her, his eye oddly vacant as it locked with her own. The stare sent goosebumps down her arms as he seemed to look through her.

"Everything...everything was burning. I saw Nora and Ren, but it wasn't...it was them and not them you know? Like shadows, copies like from my previous dream but worse. They attacked me. Beacon was...gone...destroyed. We fought in the arena and then the sky started ripping apart. I saw them again...but in the dorm...it's all so jumbled together. I remember flying through a door...Ren's foot coming towards my face...Nora bleeding..." He shook his head. Tears were leaking from both of their eyes now. "And then...then I saw him."

"What? Who!? Jaune what are you talking about?!" Pyrrha demanded.

What little color remained in Jaune's face drained away as his eye went wide and his body went completely rigid. His balled his hand into a tight fist while his eye swiveled and focused on some scene visible only to him.

"You were there, Pyrrha, in both places. I had to fight you. He made me fight you but I didn't want to." For a moment his eye focused back on Pyrrha in the hospital room, fixing her with the gaze of a corpse newly risen. "I was hurting so bad but I had to fight you...he was going to kill me! I tried to reach you...I almost made it and-"

"Jaune please stop!" Pyrrha's words rang out in the quiet room as anguish painfully gripped her chest. Tears were falling freely from her eyes now. This had been a mistake. What was she supposed to expect him to do? Give a detailed explanation on what went wrong to justify his actions? Explain them? Somehow excuse what he had done?

But that wasn't the real reason she had asked to see him alone, was it? She felt like an idiot, and more than that she felt shame at being so selfish to satisfy some personal curiosity. He had been bleeding out in her arms, of course he wouldn't remember that moment they had shared or what he had said. A part of her, a much smaller part now, still harbored affection for her blonde team leader, but that sliver of devotion was like a lone ship trying to ride out a maelstrom. It would just take a little more, she was so close to giving in to the parts of her that just wanted to scream, to tell him he deserved this fate...

But she couldn't. The words caught in her throat, that tiny sliver holding her back, a slender thread and yet it held her as fast as the bolts drilled into his legs held him. She had to get out of here, clear her head, maybe talk with him later. She turned to leave. "Jaune...I-I'm sorry but...I need some fresh air right now. I'll visit you later ok?"

Her hand was on the door when Jaune finally processed that she was leaving. "P-Pyrrha! Wait!" He called out to her. She half turned towards him but made no motion to return to his bedside.

"Look...I'm sorry I can't remember more about what happened. I already know what I did was horrible, you and the others out there have a right to hate me for what I did. I won't try to run away from it but..." He paused, his voice somehow stronger now. "...if it will keep me from losing you I'll find those memories again. I'll try my hardest to figure out why this happened and make sure it never happens again. W-will you let me make it up to you? To Ren and Nora? Please, give me a chance to earn back my spot on our team?"

That phrase, the way he was reaching out for her, it stirred something within her. An older memory, but suddenly fresh, the details flooding over her...

Forever Fall Forest, initiation day.

There was Jaune... in her memory he was no longer chained to a bed but dangling from her spear she had used to break his fall. Just a few meters apart, reaching out to each other, the moment they began their their journey together. Then she blinked. The harsh chemical scent of the room replaced the clean forest air and Jaune was once again reaching out for her help, to continue the journey they had started.

"I...I need some time Jaune...I'm sorry but...I'll talk to you later." She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes again and she choked back any further response, hurrying to the door and pulling it open, unwilling to risk looking back as she fled the room.

* * *

Pyrrha's sudden reemergence into the corridor caused her teammates' heads to turn around in alarm. Ren was the first to reach her.

"Pyrrha what's wrong? Are you ok?" Ren asked reaching for her shoulder.

Pyrrha took a deep shuddering breath before responding. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean...I just need to be alone for a bit!" She pushed past them and walked quickly down the corridor.

"What the hell was that all about?!" Nora nearly shouted as she watched Pyrrha turn a corner and vanish out of sight.

"It's not a pretty sight in there Nora." Ren mused. "I did warn her about him but-"

Nora's confusion quickly gave way to simmering anger. "First he attacks us. Then WE get punished for it! And now he's made Pyrrha cry...that's it! I've had about enough of this!" She marched the few steps over to the door and was about to yank it open when she felt Ren's hand fall upon her.

"Nora...what are you going to do?"

Nora turned towards him, her face suddenly fixed with her signature bubbly grin. "Just going to visit 'ol Jauney Ren! Pyrrha had her turn alone so now it's mine!" She tried turning the handle again only to have it stopped by his tightening grip.

"I'm not going to let you hurt him Nora. He's still a member of our team and taking out your anger on him isn't going to solve anything." His voice was gentler than the air coming from the overhead AC vent, yet for all its calm there was resolve behind his words, more than she had heard from him in a very long while. Her turquoise eyes sparkled dangerously but he looked back unblinking, unswayed by her challenge.

"I just...want to talk to him Ren. I swear I won't hurt him, but I want to see for myself what he has to say. Pyrrha got her turn and I guess you already snuck in before..." Ren could tell by the venom in that last note that they'd be coming back to his secret visit. "You each got a turn with him, I deserve one too."

She felt the grip of his hand relax as he stepped back with a sigh. "I know you're still upset about what he did to you Nora. I'm letting you in there because you gave me your word you wouldn't hurt him. Part of us becoming a team again has to start with forgiveness. I'll be out here if you need me, ok?" He affectionately squeezed her shoulder, then returned to his seat on the nearby bench.

The lingering sensation of his touch followed her into the room, like her stoic friend was hovering right behind her. Gods he could read her like a book. It was taking all of her self control not to charge into the room and punch Jaune right in that stupid blonde face of his, but knowing Ren she wouldn't make it halfway across the room before he got in the way. Closing the door behind her with a muffled sigh the ruffle of sheets and a squeak of bedsprings reached her ears.

"Pyrrha is that you? Did you...? Oh! Hey Nora..." Jaune was partially sitting up in his bed, or at least trying to. Ren had been right. Jaune did look pretty horrible. Between the bandages and what looked like metal spikes sticking out all over his body, he looked more like a mangled stuffed animal than a human. This was the same guy who had nearly bashed her head in? It just didn't seem possible. He looked like it'd be a struggle for him to piss the bed, much less lift a sword against her. That thought cheered her a little. She may have lost the fight against him, but she wasn't the one tied up to a hospital bed right now was she? Skipping up to his bedside she looked down at him with her trademark bubbly grin.

"It's good to see you again Nora...when Ren told me what I had done I was so worried, I'm so sorry I-" Jaune tried to start.

"Aaaaaand I'm gonna stop ya right there Jauney!" She held up her hand as her grin stiffened and locked in place. "What's going to happen is you're going to do your best impression of a knot on a log and I'm going to do the talking okeedokee?"

"But-"

"Ah ah ah, you're doing that talking thing again, logs are for sloths to play on, not talking."

Jaune blinked. Nora had a tendency to butt into conversations at odd moments, but never had she forcibly dominated him before. Though she was smiling as sweetly as ever...it was her eyes that made his heart almost stop in its place. They were strangely hollow, blank even. Like she had shut away her usual self and opened a door to a part of her never shown before, a part that made him wonder if he would ever leave this bed again.

"I've had a few days to think Jaune. Which is a long time for someone like me. Most of the time? I take it moment to moment, keep it simple. Like when I'm going to have pancakes again or when are we going to kill more Grimm? It makes it easier. Don't have to worry about stuff so much, you know?"

Jaune slowly nodded in agreement, not knowing what else to do.

"But then this all happened. You went crazy on us. I dunno what really happened with all that hocus-Dustus tonic stuff, I leave that to Ren to figure out, too much reading for me. But what I do know is you attacked me. You attacked Pyrrha. And worst of all, you attacked Ren."

Goosebumps broke out over Jaune's body as he felt the emphasis on the last part. Nora leaned closer, still staring at him with that disturbing rictus, and Jaune found himself unable to look away.

"I can put up with a lot of things Jaune. Grimm invasions? Sure. Surviving our village getting wiped out? Been there, done that, got the shirt. I'll even put up with running out of pancakes if I'm having a good day." She leaned further in now, so close he could feel her warm breath caressing his face, smelling slightly maple toothpaste. "But I won't put up with anyone harming Ren. He means more to me than the team or even being a hunter. I know he keeps saying I should be more reasonable with all this, but I feel I'm being pretty damn reasonable now by not punching your face into paste." She grabbed his robe and pulled him up off the bed as far as the casts would let her.

"So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to play nice. I'm going to forgive you for what you did so we can get our team back together. As much as I'd rather return tenfold what you did to me back in the dorm, Ren and Pyrrha seem to think you're worth saving for the team's sake. Here's the thing though..." Holding him aloft with one arm, one of the grenade rounds she used for Magnhild suddenly appeared in her free hand. The pink canister glinted dully in the harsh hospital lighting as she turned it over in her hand. "...if you ever go off the rails like that again, if you so much as give Ren a papercut, I'm going to shove one of these into every orifice you have and some extras that I'll invent special for the occasion. And then I will pound whatever's left with Magnhild until I hit bedrock. Are we clear?"

The clash of Nora's cheerful demeanor with the threat of his gruesome demise made Jaune fear for his life. Never before, not even during initiation day in the Forever Fall forest had he considered his own mortality this directly. A part of him pitied whatever Grimm creature ever dared go up against Nora Valkyrie. The glare she gave him was almost enough to make him lose control of his bowels right then and there, something he held back only by the thought of what Nora would do if he somehow pissed all over her.

"I said, are we clear!?" The chains rattled in protest as she shook him over the bed, her eyes blazing angrily with her semblance.

"C-Crystal clear Nora! L-like a Dust crystal!" He yelped, praying to whatever God would listen that she would believe him. For a terrifying moment it didn't look like she did, her eyes narrowing as she continued to look at his trembling body. Then with a deep sigh her grip loosened and she let his body fall to the bed with a soft thud. Immediately he tried to back away from her as much as his restraints would allow, but she had already turned away and started walking towards the exit. Her hand on the door she turned to face him one more time. All traces of that horrible wrath that had just threatened his life were gone. Her normal cheery visage had returned in full force as she grabbed the doorknob.

"I'll catch you around Jauney! Remember! I'm keeping an eye on ya good buddy!" And with an energetic wave she left the room, slamming the door behind her.

It was a few seconds before he realized he had forgotten to take a breath since she had grabbed his robe. He shuddered as he swallowed lungfuls of air trying to calm his heart from jackhammering out of his chest. The EKG device next to him chided him for letting his heart rate get so high, as if he could have done anything else.

"Now what do I do?" He asked the empty room and got no reply.

* * *

Outside, the sudden exit of Nora into the hallway made Ren nearly leap to his feet in alarm.

"Nora? Is everything-?"

"It's fiiiine! Stop being such a worrywart Ren! I got to see Jaune and we had a good talk! No biggie!" She gushed.

"Nora..." Ren crossed his arms and gave her his signature "what did you do?" look, the one she always had trouble evading.

"Totally swear on a stack of pancakes Ren! Didn't harm a hair on his messed up little face! Honest!"

"And was that all you did?" He inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup! Well sort of...I mean I may have warned him to be on his best behavior or..." She trailed off, flashing an innocent grin in the hopes of making him drop the interrogation. It didn't work.

"Nora! Did you threaten him!?" He exclaimed in alarm.

"Trust me Ren it's fine! And for your information I didn't threaten him! I...'encouraged' him to never do it again! Big difference!"

"Uh huh." He answered dryly, clearly not believing a word she said.

"Look whatever, I promised I wasn't going to hit him, but that doesn't cover hurting his feelings. He'll get over it. Let's go find Pyrrha and get out of here, I've had enough of this place." She pushed past him and walked briskly down the corridor in the direction Pyrrha had run off to.

Ren tried to yell after her but she was already halfway down the hall, and yelling after her when she was in this sort of mood would only encourage her to do the exact opposite of what you were trying to make her do in the first place. With one last glance back at Jaune's room he trotted down the hallway after his partner.

The two of them finally met back up with Pyrrha in the waiting room. Her eyes were red and puffy and though she claimed she was fine, it was obvious to Ren that she had been crying quite a bit. Faced with few minutes left before sparring class, they made their way back over to the arena, somewhat welcome for the distraction. They didn't talk much as they crossed the campus. For Nora and Pyrrha, the visit had more or less been a disaster though for reasons neither could share with one another. Ren just wondered what else could go possibly wrong this week, but didn't voice the concern out loud, worried his dour take on things would spread to his teammates, and somehow further poison their moods.

Whether through mercy or pity Professor Goodwitch didn't call upon any of them for sparring demonstrations, focusing the lesson on Aura manipulation theory and more advanced protection techniques building up from the simple shield. Cardin and the rest of his CRDL cronies kept shooting mocking looks towards Pyrrha and her team but didn't otherwise trouble them. Professor Goodwitch was hovering in their area of the arena more so than usual, and ripe as they were as a target of his bullying, Cardin wasn't liable to dare anything overt with Goodwitch so near.

When class finished the remaining trio of JNPR headed back to their dorm room, forgoing lunch in the cafeteria for a chance for some quiet time. This morning's visit had sapped their desire to eat much of anything, though Ren had insisted they at least eat some dried fruit he had stashed in their room for energy.

"Awww Ren, can't we have pancakes instead?" Nora whined. "Fruit is so boring... unless it's in pancakes!"

"Maybe later Nora. We have that test for Oobleck to study for remember? Last time you tried studying under a pancake crash I ended up having to do your assignment for you."

"That was only one time!"

"More like ten if I'm still keeping count..." Ren muttered.

Pyrrha fell back as the two continued to bicker on the walk back to the dorm. Trailing behind she listened to the two of them go back and forth, giving a strained chuckle as they debated the best time of the day to have pancakes. Paying only half-attention to her surroundings, she had gone several steps down their hallway when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Guys..." She whispered but Nora and Ren were too engrossed in their argument over Nora's syrup drinking habits, and continued to walk towards their room.

"GUYS!" She shouted, bringing the conversation to a sudden halt.

"Pyrrha?" Ren looked back with surprise before his eyes narrowed as he put together her serious expression with the the tone of her voice.

"Jeeze Pyrrha why'd you have to yell like that we're right here aren't we?" Nora grumbled in irritation before she noticed the shocked look on Pyrrha's face.

"Something's wrong...look at the door..." Pyrrha whispered pointed down the hall.

As they followed her finger they subconsciously closed ranks into a combat wedge. Someone had yanked aside the door they had been propping against the entrance to their room and flung it violently down the opposite end of the hall with enough force to embed it in the drinking fountain.

"Looks like we had another visitor." Ren whispered. "Bit of a violent entry for someone just wanting pics of our room..." He glanced towards Pyrrha for instructions.

"Weapons out I think..." Pyrrha decided. As one they unsheathed and readied their weapons, moving slowly towards the doorway. As they got closer to the entrance, Nora froze mid stride. Her whole body went rigid as her gloves creaked around Magnhilde's shaft, while the hilt thumped onto the floor.

"Nora!? What's wrong?" Ren whispered in alarm.

Nora didn't answer right away. Taking a few deep breaths she finally spoke. "R-Ren...he's here..." Nora mumbled. "...Jaune's...in there..." She leaned against Magnhild, eyes tightly shut.

Pyrrha and Ren traded equally dumbfounded looks then looked back down at their teammate. Wordlessly Ren holstered his pistols and reached out to gently grab Nora's shoulders. A faint pinkish glow bathed the two of them as Ren touched his forehead to the back of her head.

"It's ok Nora..." He whispered. "...Jaune can't be here, remember? We just saw him in the hospital. You're safe here. You're with me. You're with Pyrrha. You are safe. Just listen to the sound of my voice ok?" Nora's breathing slowed further as his aura technique washed over her, bathing her in a soft crimson glow. After few seconds she opened her eyes again and looked back to Ren.

"I know what I feel Ren. That's...Jaune in there. He's back, I'm sure of it."

Pyrrha nervously looked around the hallway, glad that no one else had chosen that moment to come upon them. She wasn't sure she'd be able to explain away a spastic teammate and their door embedded in the other end of the hallway. Just as she was trying to contemplate who might have done such a thing, an icy spike of dread tickled the back of her spine. A familiar sense of power entwined with an equally familiar sense of malice... of killer intent...was coming from inside their room.

"Ren..." He turned to look at her, his eyes wide with concern. "...something's definitely in there..."

"Are you sure? How-?" He shook his head. "What should we do? Should we go get a teacher?" He looked back towards the entrance of the hallway then back at her.

Pyrrha shook her head. "No, if Jaune is really in there...well...he's not supposed to be out of the hospital is he? I mean...I don't want him to get into any more-I mean...I don't want the team to-"

"I know. How do you want to handle this?" He looked back towards Nora who was still braced against her weapon, unable to stand unassisted.

"You two stay here and keep an eye out for anyone. I should be able to handle it. If I need help I'll scream ok?" She raised Akujo and moved towards the entrance.

"Alright Pyrrha. Please be careful." Ren gently tugged on Nora's shoulders and guided her to the wall near the doorway where she could lean for more support.

Stepping lightly on the off chance she could retain the element of surprise, Pyrrha slid up the hallway to take the same position near the entrance as she had done the last time. The sensation was stronger here, just like before and she fought back the memories it brought with it. Yet for all its intensity it was...different somehow. She couldn't quite place her finger on it. What she had initially recognized as murderous intent was... well still angry, but far more restrained compared to Jaune during the incident. She shook her head to clear her mind and took another steadying breath.

_Ready to invade my own room again_. She thought before spinning around the corner, entering the room shield up and spear at the ready.

"Took you long enough to get in here. I was listening to you three fucking around out there for what felt like ages."

In the center of the room stood a tall, rangy woman with a large plat of dirty blond hair flowing down over a large rifle slung across her back. Facing away from the door, she barely turned to glance at Pyrrha out of the corner of one eye. Waves of anger filled the room, washing over Pyrrha in painful pulses, familiar somehow and yet... Pyrrha tried to to figure out why the woman felt so familiar; she was too old to be a student and didn't appear to be any faculty member Pyrrha had seen on campus before, maybe a trainer at a tournament?

"Uhm..." Pyrrha began but stopped as the lady finally turned, fixing her with a cold look from behind her spectacles. Her ice blue eyes were hauntingly familiar as she spoke.

"You have five seconds to start telling me where my little brother is, or I start performing invasive surgery without anesthetic."


	18. Chapter 18 - Thicker than Water

**Good evening folks! Long time no see huh? I don't really have an excuse for the long delay in chapters. Between life, video game releases and my own struggles, this project got sidetracked more times than I care to admit. I'm still committed to it however, and I do have an endgame in mind for it so rest assured this story will be completed! As always, I appreciate the favs, follows and feedback! Thank you for sticking with me so far. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 18 - Thicker than Water**

"E-excuse me?" Pyrrha sputtered.

"Clocks ticking Red." The blond huntress hissed.

"Wait! Uhm..." Pyrrha pleaded, trying to think of a way to prevent another firefight in her dorm, or even escape past the woman who now blocked the exit. There was something familiar about the woman in front of her. Blonde hair...blue eyes...Jaune had mentioned- Taking a deep breath she hurried on. "You said little brother... do you mean Jaune?"

"You bought yourself a few more seconds. Keep talking and you might get more." The woman's eyes bored in with an intensity only matched by the demon Pyrrha had recently fought in this very room.

"My name is Pyrrha Nikos, I'm a member of Team Juniper led by Jaune Arc. My teammates are just outside trying not to freak out. Could you please tell me who you are so we can talk?!" She spoke in a torrent, hoping she could speak fast enough to defuse the situation before the monstrous gun slung across the woman's back added its voice to the exchange.

The blue eyes flickered. Pyrrha felt like she was standing before Professor Goodwitch evaluating a recent spar, a familiar feeling that made Pyrrha wonder if this was some professor that had only recently transferred to Beacon. She certainly had a terrifying way of greeting her students if that was the case

"That's all fine and dandy Pyrrha, but you still didn't answer my question. Where. Is. My. Little. Brother?" Her hard voice sent Pyrrha's mind back into overdrive. Jaune was in no position to be moved, and even if he could, how could they notify the hospital or the school fast enough? Maybe call Ruby? She could outrun anyone but...she shook her head and set that thought aside.

"I-If I tell you, will you please promise not to attack me or my team?" Pyrrha replied, her hand clenching tighter around Milo.

"That depends on what you tell me. Tick tock Pyrrha."

Pyrrha's mind tried to race even faster, grasping for a way out of this situation without giving in to stranger's demands, but coming up with no alternative. With a slight slump of her shoulders she finally answered. "Alright fine. He's currently in Beacon infirmary recovering from-"

"The infirmary? Why? What happened!?" The woman interrupted before Pyrrha could finish.

"I was trying to-" Pyrrha began.

"The hell with that!" The woman snapped. "My brother's in the hospital and I'm wasting my time talking with you lot?" She whipped around to march out of the room.

Before she had taken two steps, the monstrous rifle flew off the harness from her back. Sailing through the air it collided with Pyrrha nearly knocking her off her feet with its unexpected heft. Fumbling for a brief second, Pyrrha was forced to sheathe Akujo in favor of supporting the gun with both of her hands. "No, you are going to calm down and talk with us before you do anything else! This is our dorm you broke into, our team leader you're asking about and you're not going anywhere before I get some answers!"

The woman didn't even turn, merely glancing back over one shoulder, her eyes narrowed. "No one touches my weapon but me or a Grimm sucking the business end." The blonde hissed dangerously. "Give that back or I'll take it back, and your fingers with it."

"Are you insane!? I was going to take you to him if you had just calmed down and discussed this like a normal adult! You say you're one of Jaune's sisters? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I am not ONE of Jaune's sisters, I am his eldest sibling; Jean Arc. I was supposed to visit him next week but then he stopped answering his Scroll... I thought he might have done something stupid." Her gaze flickered for a moment, the first crack in the facade since Pyrrha had entered the room. "What happened to him Pyrrha? Why is he in the infirmary? Bad mission, or a training accident perhaps?"

Pyrrha hesitated. She wanted to tell the truth, but the old adage of "Truth being stranger than fiction" made her reconsider her words. "He...he had an accident...with some dust rounds. We were experimenting with them here in our dorm and...well you can sort of see the results..." Pyrrha trailed off, nodding to the rest of the room.

Jean blinked. Then scowled. "Dust rounds in-? Which one of you dumbasses thought that was a good idea!?" She shook her head, turning around slowly. "Never mind, I don't care. Give me back my weapon; I need to see him right now."

The two women stared awkwardly at each other for a moment before Jean continued. "Alright, look. I'm sorry we started off on a bad foot. A terrible one even. I'm tired and cranky from the trip and seeing this disaster zone kind of put me over the edge. You have my word as a huntress and a doctor I won't hurt you or your team, but I need to see my brother, and I'm not leaving without my gun. Can we table this for now and call a truce?" She slowly extended her hand, beckoning for the rifle.

Pyrrha hesitated yet again. This was moving far too fast for her liking, but not seeing any option that didn't involve violence, relented and handed the rifle over. Flipping the gun as if it weighed no more than a feather, Jean stowed it and turned to walk out the door.

As she followed after Jean, Pyrrha shot a quick look over to her teammates, still pressed up against the wall outside in the hallway. Ren gaped at the imposing looking huntress marching past without so much as a glance in their direction. He turned to Pyrrha with a searching look only to get a shake of the head in reply as Pyrrha motioned for the two of them to fall in.

* * *

Between Jean's swift pace and the trio's trepidation they trailed a good distance behind Jean, not sure what to expect, her mere presence stifling any sort of conversation. Crossing the school grounds they passed several knots of students including Cardin and his team emerging from the dining hall. For a moment, Pyrrha thought they were in for another round of their daily torment but a single glance at the woman leading the group made Cardin pale slightly and wave his team off. Other groups of students were not much different, the imposing glare of Jean Arc parting the sea of bodies like a dreadnought under full steam, with any students in their path scrambling out of the way. A few Pyrrha recognized looked on sympathetically towards team JNPR, believing they were being led to some kind of severe punishment.

It was obvious from the moment they set foot inside the lobby of the infirmary that Jean was in her element. Cutting across to the reception desk, a quiet yet intense conversation ensued. Recalling the incident with the nurse from this morning, Pyrrha braced for what was sure to be a tense confrontation between Jean and the immovable hospital bureaucracy, only to be surprised, and relieved when nothing happened. Pyrrha couldn't hear what was being said, but the way the male orderly obediently bobbed his head and quickly pointed down the hall it didn't look like they would have any difficulties gaining entry.

Stepping back from the desk, Jean turned to the group and jerked her head towards the hall. Ren and Nora looked to Pyrrha for guidance but she had nothing more to offer than a shrug and to follow after Jaune's sister. Tracing the same path from earlier in the morning they were soon standing in front of Jaune's room once again.

"I'm sure you'll understand that I'd like to see my brother in private." Jean muttered quietly. It wasn't so much a question as a declaration.

"Of course. Do you want us to wait out here?" Pyrrha asked timidly.

"Do what you want. Just don't miss class on my account." Jean replied dismissively. She placed her hand on the door before pausing for a moment, her whole demeanor softening slightly as she turned back towards them. "Look, I promise I won't hurt him ok? That's my brother in there, and no harm is going to come to him under my watch. I just don't want you or the rest of your team getting into trouble. It looks like you've been through enough already." The appraising gaze fell upon Pyrrha again, making her squirm uncomfortably.

"O-Oh!" Pyrrha stuttered, surprised again at the whipsaw change in tone. "Well thank you. I'm sure Jaune will be glad to see you again, he spoke very highly of you!"

Jean's smiled at the words. "He's a good brother. Now if you'll excuse me..." With a nod to the rest of the team she opened the door to the room and slid inside, the door shutting behind her with a heavy thud.

* * *

"Soooo...that was a thing." Ren said, breaking the silence after Jean had been inside for several minutes. "That's really Jaune's oldest sister? Looks like we know where his…nasty half came from or is that just me?"

"She's really scary guys." Nora muttered, clutching her arms together and edging closer to Ren. "There's something about her...I was so sure I sensed Jaune in our dorm room, but...I don't know. I'd rather go up against a whole herd of Ursas than even try her in a sparring class." She shivered despite the warm hospital air and Ren draped an arm around her.

"So now what?" Ren turned back to Pyrrha. "Do we cut class and hang out here or...?"

"I...I don't know really." Pyrrha wavered, wringing her hands. She was not used to being turned to for advice like this. With Jaune down she was the de facto leader of team JNPR, a role at she had at one point craved, but now that it had fallen into her lap she just wished to be rid of it, to go back to the way things were. She checked her scroll for the time. Professor Oobleck's history class was next, and while he was certainly a lot more reasonable than Professor Goodwitch, Pyrrha doubted he'd be willing to let them cut the entire class just to sit out here and wait for Jean to finish with her brother. "I guess we should probably head to Oobleck's class. I mean, it _is_ Jaune's sister isn't it? He should be alright with her, and we can see him once we get out right?" She asked, trying and failing to convince herself that everything was alright. There was no getting around that she had left her team captain alone with a woman who had looked ready to draw down on several first year students. Familial attachment or no, Pyrrha had led the woman straight to Jaune, and now she was just going to walk away.

She sighed miserably. "Come on, we don't have much time to get across campus." The trio slowly made their way back out of the hospital, Pyrrha stealing one final glance back as they rounded the first corner.

* * *

"Dammit all to grimtorn hell..." Jean rasped quietly as she was plunged into the darkness of Jaune's room, the thick scent of disinfectant and bodily fluids assaulted her nose. She had been so focused on getting to her brother that nothing else had registered until now. Still, it was a hospital; familiar territory, more familiar than anything else in her life. In a way it was comforting; the long and brutal hours she pushed upon herself did allow her to ignore things she'd rather not have to deal with...like particular elements of her family.

Running a hand across her face she leaned back against the door as the accumulated stress from her travels started catching up with her. The familiar beep boop of monitors and the raspy sound of what had to be Jaune's breath echoed in the small room. She couldn't see him in the darkness, but she paused before reaching for the light, apprehensive at what state he was in. Wiping her glasses she reflected on the journey it had taken to get her to Beacon. A 2am departure time and three different air-ship transfers, the last one bumpier than riding a borbatusk in the forest. Then there was the not-so-small issue that she had probably traumatized Jaune's teammates from ever speaking with her again. Not exactly the first impression she had been going for but...

"Probably a bad idea to throw the door across the hallway..." she muttered to herself. It was that child that got airsick on the last leg of her flights that did it. It reminded her so much of Jaune...heck the poor thing even had the same blonde hair as her brother, crying and moaning into that airsickness bag...and she still had four hours left on that flight to run through all sorts of nightmarish scenarios as to what might have happened to her little brother. Sick? Injured? Dead even? For someone used to dealing with stressful situations and tough calls, those four hours had been among the toughest in recent memory, a malaise of helplessness. She would have gladly traded battlefield triage for sitting through that flight again.

Being at beacon had stirred its own memories, and though she'd pushed them back down into the hole they crept out from it was enough of a distraction until... Seeing the smashed door of his room in front of her...it was just too much. Even now in the moment she couldn't recall what made her tear the door down and fling it aside, the sight of his dorm room only deepening her mounting fear and terror at what had to have happened to him. She thanked her training that she hadn't handled the moment's later interaction with Pyrrha in a worse fashion, especially after the impudent girl had yanked Mercy out of her hands...

Another sigh.

She wanted a shower, a nap, and a drink, not necessarily in that order and none of which were going to be an option for a while. Taking another deep breath she slowly turned on the light, squinting in the still dark room trying to familiarize herself with the layout. She hoped Jaune was getting enough rest. He liked sleeping in, which didn't occur very often growing up in their household she thought with a smile. Her eyes adjusting to the gloom, there was just enough light to see a figure lying in an awkward position beneath the sheets. As she walked across the room she recalled a fond memory of them all jumping into his room to scare him after a long night of-

"Dust's sake Jaune..." The low light and blankets obscured his figure somewhat, but as she drew closer to the bed the sight of his body and casts made her eyes go wide with horror. Retreating into the comfort of routine, she flipped from concerned sister to practicing surgeon, pulling his chart and reviewing the readings on the nearby machines.

"Bloody hell...what happened to you?" She blurted out on reaching the end of the packet.

There was a ruffling of sheets and a creak of bed springs the lamp beside the bed clicking on. "Wha-w-who's there?" A weak voice asked. "What's going on?"

_Shit._ She moved back to the side of the bed still clutching the chart. "Hey little bro, how ya doing?" She greeted, quickly fixing a smile on her face.

"J-Jean? What are you-how did-?" Jaune stuttered.

She placed a hand on his uninjured shoulder. "Shhhh. Easy there little guy, don't you worry a thing. I'm here and you're safe. That's all that matters right now."

"But how did-? When did you get in here? What time is it?" He asked, craning his neck to get a better view of the wall clock.

"It's roughly the middle of the day, prolly just after lunch from how many folks I saw coming out of the dining hall. They still serving those mystery meat patties on Fridays?" She asked trying to change the subject.

"I don't think so? They mostly serve some lasagna with some meat that I can't-" He cocked his head then looked at her. "-Well I guess that answers that question." Both of them had a small chuckle at that. "But how did you get here so quickly sis? I thought you said you couldn't come until the end of the month? Is everything ok?"

"Don't you worry about me. I decided sooner would be better than later. Especially when a _certain_ sibling of mine isn't answering his Scroll-mail." Her tone hardened along with her look. Tapping the chart she continued. "So little bro, wanna fill me in what happened?"

Jaune squirmed as much as the casts allowed. Coming up with a cover story for Ozpin and Glynda was rough, and he'd had time to prepare for that one, but facing the steely eyed glare currently heading his direction was another thing entirely.

"Well uh..." He began, unable to meet her gaze. "...I had a bit of an accident in my dorm. Had some...rounds...go off...and...bad...dust..." He trailed off, wilting under Jean's glare.

"We're both too old for fairy tales, Jaune." The retort came out harsher than she would have liked, but the doctor and big sister were in concert now, probing for answers, trying to find a solution to the problem. "I'm not sure how you managed to pull the wool over everyone's eyes here-" She tapped the chart again with her finger. "-but that shit isn't going to fly with me. What. Happened?"

Jaune shriveled into the covers. He looked around the room as if searching for someone or something to step up and answer for him. Finally, he bowed his head and let out a long sigh.

"Jaune." A gentler voice now, still full of command, yet tinged with affection she reserved only for a loved one. The voice of a big sister comforting her younger brother when he needed it most. Jaune's head slowly came up, his eyes glistening with tears. "Come on now, what really happened? You can tell me, alright? I got your back." Jean pulled over the lone chair in the room and sat down next to him, gently resting her hand on the lone unbandaged section of his arm.

His breath hitched in his throat as the tears began to fall freely now, peppering his sheets and soaking into the collar of his hospital gown. There was a brief pause as he took several shuddering breaths and then began to speak.

Jean had been at enough bedsides to recognize what came next. Facing one's mortality often loosened the lips of even the most stubborn individuals, and, despite his injuries, Jaune wasn't as bad off as some patients she had sat vigil for.

That said she hadn't expected the monumental confessional that was now tumbling from his lips. She had always been suspicious of how Jaune had gotten into Beacon; sure there was the family name but even with that she hadn't thought he had the chops to be a hunter, let alone get into Beacon Academy. So when she had gotten the first scroll mail that he had made it in, she was surprised and more than a little suspicious of how he had pulled it off. At the time she'd just chalked it up to some sort of politicking by her parents, not something to call him out on, really, especially with how happy he seemed about it. Really she was proud of him more than anything and hoped that he'd grow into things once at the school, but it was enough to occupy the back of her mind as yet another unsolved mystery in the world.

What she had thought was a bombshell of a revelation turned out to be merely an opening salvo as he continued on to describe, in horrifying detail, his weeks of nightmares and illicit dust drinks. She forced herself to sit in silence, outwardly projecting the appearance of the strong, caring older sister she had to be right now, yet she felt herself almost retching at the sordid details of her sibling's personal hell.

As difficult as it had been for him to get started the confession seemed to lift a weight from his shoulders. By the time he had brought things up to the present with him in the hospital, his posture had improved, his voice stronger and clearer than it had been before.

"...and that's pretty much where I am sis. I...I don't know what to do. Sure I lived this time, but sooner or later I'm going to fuck up and I won't be able to walk away from it." He sighed again. "What do I do?"

Jean didn't answer. She stood from the chair and began pacing around the room occasionally shooting a sideways glance at her brother as her mind raced, trying to process everything she had just learned. How the hell was she supposed to respond to all of this? Bedside confessions were one thing, and aside from a few police cases she had assisted with, typically involved things far more manageable than deciding the future career path of her severely injured younger brother. On the other hand she couldn't deny a sense of familiarity with the situation. Jaune had always trusted her judgment, always come running to her if had some problem or question "too important for Mom and Dad" as he used to put it. She could say to him right now to give up his dream of becoming a hunter and there were good odds he'd listen to her.

She was tempted, the injuries he had sustained alone would have sidelined even more senior hunters than herself-or at least convince them to deactivate their hunter's license-and they hadn't dabbled with illegal dust drinks or gone on crazy dust-fueled benders. Their parents would rage, but what of it, she had enough pull around her hospital where she could easily find him a job. Dust's sake they were always short staffed in the pediatric ward, and Jaune was a natural with kids, he'd have no issue building a career there. He'd never have to deal with their parents, and he could live his life in relative safety and peace.

She paused mid-stride. _But would it be the life he wanted?_ Beyond the tears and bruises visible in the dim light, there was still a spark of resolve in those eyes, the steel in his posture, ready to endure and continue the fight. Could she really take that away from him? Did she even have that right? If she put him back on the less perilous path would he come to hate her for it? She had a responsibility to him that went beyond just a future career path. He was blood. He was family. That didn't seem to matter to their parents when it came to her, but she'd be damned if she was going to betray her brother or try to kill his dreams.

"J-jean? Are you ok?" Jaune asked from the bed.

Her whirling thoughts came to a halt, Jaune's voice pulling her back into the present. "Fuck's sake Jaune..." She muttered, startling her brother with the profanity. "I was planning on just coming up here and telling you things were just going to be ok or something, give you a pep talk and stuff...but this..." She shook her head and sat back down, giving her brother a searching look that he couldn't return. Their uncomfortable silence stretched on several minutes, neither sibling able to put thoughts to words, brief abortive glances all that passed between them.

Finally Jean rose again, smoothing out her jacket and setting her shoulders as she came to a decision. "Right then, no point in beating around the issue, let's just get it over with." She faced him again, their gaze locking as neither turned away this time. "Do you want to be a hunter?"

The question was delivered so bluntly Jaune recoiled. "Whu-what? Do I want to-?" He began before his sister interrupted him.

"You need to make a decision. I need to know if you want to be hunter." She held up a hand as he opened his mouth to speak. "Before you answer, I want you to know that whatever you decide I will support you. This is your life, live it for you, not for your family, for debt or duty, but for yourself. Whatever decision you make needs to be yours and yours alone. It has to come from here-" She tapped him gently on his head. "-and here." She tapped him on the chest, right over his heart. "Anything else is just pointless Grimmshit." She sat down and the chair and looked at him with crossed arms.

"That's...how can I just decide like that? How can you make it sound so easy?" He pleaded.

"As a hunter you need to be able to make snap decisions, especially under extreme stress." She retorted. "Sure you're injured but right now you're safe, no real time constraints, no threats, this is chickenshit tier difficulty. You either want to be a hunter or you don't. You defied Mom and Dad and lied and cheated your way in here. That says to me that you really want to be a Hunter. Do you still, or were you just trying to prove a point? You have your whole life ahead of you – don't sacrifice that unless this truly, in your heart of hearts, where you know you belong."

"But..." He groaned. Rubbing his hair with his uninjured arm he looked back at her. "I just don't know if I'm good enough! Everything I've done so far it's either because my teammates pulled me out of the fire or I got lucky or some other random thing happened to save my ass. I feel like I'm just one trip or mistake from failing out of here..."

"Relying on your team isn't a bad thing Jaune. That should have been made clear to you on the initiation day."

"Yeah I get that part, but what about them being able to rely on me? I have to be able to stand on my own! What if one of them needs my help?!" He shot back.

"Then you'll step up and help. That's what a team leader does. And don't sell yourself short, I know what you've done; your teammates didn't go on those missions for you. You still stepped out of those Bullheads and killed your share of Grimm."

"Well yeah but-"

"And you haven't been expelled yet, so you're still turning in course work. Unless you've been copying off of your teammates?" She inquired with a cocked eyebrow.

"O-Of course not!" He sputtered indignantly. "I may have asked them for help but I did all the writing and-"

"And I see you've been putting time in the gym too." She grinned. "No more of that baby fat hanging around."

"That's Pyrrha helping me with that, without her personal training I'd have died in the sparring arena." He blushed furiously as his sister's grin grew even wider.

"Personal training you say? Awwww my little bro is finally becoming a man!" She leaned in closer, a mischievous look playing across her face. "You make a move on her yet?"

"It's not like that!" Jaune nearly shouted. "She's just...she wants to help me...be a better hunter is all." He offered feebly.

Jean made a sound halfway between a groan and a snort. "Bro, word to the wise, if a lady is spending that much of her free time with you and you're not paying her to do it, she's doing it for a reason."

"Pyrrha doesn't...I mean I don't know... _do_ girls do that?" Jaune mumbled, confusion and embarrassment fighting for control of his face.

Jean pinched the bridge of her nose. "Dust's sake Jaune, you grew up with seven of us remember? Surely you would have picked up on some hints by now-"

"-All you guys did was make me play dress up so I could participate in your dance and tea parties. Dating advice didn't really come up."

Jean blinked then grinned. "Oh...oh yeah we kinda did huh? Well you still turned out alright despite our influence." Her expression hardened . "So...which is it going to be?"

Jaune paled for a moment. Taking as deep a breath his bruised ribs would allow he looked up, finally returning Jean's gaze. Before he had even opened his mouth, Jean knew his answer.

"I...want to be a hunter. I want to stay at Beacon and get better. I don't know how, but...I don't want to let down my team again. They deserve better than that." He finished quietly.

Jean couldn't help but smile broadly at his determined declaration. "Excellent. Then this makes the next part worth all the trouble I had to go through." She pulled open her traveling labcoat and extracted what had to be the oldest book Jaune had ever seen. The leather was cracked and discolored in multiple places, and the binding appeared ready to collapse into dust just by holding it. It reeked of age even over the stifling scent of cleaning products, looking to belong in a museum more than someone's pocket.

"What...is that?" Jaune whispered.

"This, dear brother is probably the most sacred possession of the Arc family. Historians from across the four kingdoms would sell their mothers for the chance to get their grubby little mitts on it." She flipped the book over with a flourish, revealing a crude symbol embossed into the front cover. Despite the stains and scratches on the aged leather, there was no mistaking the similarity to their family crest. "This is more than just the old stories or fairytales Dad would tell us about our history. This is who we came from. This is the personal journal of Charlemagne Arc."

Jaune's mouth dropped open. "Wait what!? How did you-? Oh my god Dad is going to kill you!" He nearly shrieked, his skin going fully pale this time. He shot an accusing finger towards her. "Does he know you have this?!"

"If he does he's being remarkably quiet about it... so no, he probably he doesn't know it's missing. I nicked it from his library before I moved out of house. For a guy who talks so much talk about our family history, he _really_ doesn't read any of those books he's got piled up in there.."

"I still don't understand..." Jaune looked to his sister with wide eyes. "...why are you giving this to me?"

"Because a long time ago I was just like you Jaune. I thought this was what was expected of me, what I had to become." She tapped the dusty cover. "It was after I had the first fight with Mom and Dad about my future plans that I finally sat down to read the thing front to back. About halfway through I wanted to destroy it. All the time hearing Dad talk about our history, how we had to measure up to "great ones" like Charlemagne and whatnot. Pissed me off to no end. I almost took a bottle of burn dust to the damn thing; I was so pissed off at Dad that night. But I kept reading and well..." She shrugged. "I snuck it out of the library and read the whole thing in a single evening." She stared at the cover for a long moment, her eyes sliding out of focus as her mind drifted back to that night, carefully folding the pages by flashlight while huddled under her blanket.

"I kind of wish I had read it before starting Beacon" She whispered. "Maybe if I had, if I could have appreciated the perspective it offered, things would have been different between us...probably would have handled things better, I dunno." She shook her head and looked back towards him.

"Dad acts like he has the whole idea of our history figured out. That he knows what Charlemagne would have done or wanted to do, that he's carrying on an unbroken legacy that traces back generations. Deep down, I don't think he really believes that anymore, but he has to keep up the charade. So he sponsors Hunter academies, goes to all the important Hunter society functions and marries off his daughters to show that the Arc family is alive and well. But that's not what the Arcs were, nor what they should be. This is what we're all about Jaune. This is what you really need to know about being a leader and being an Arc."

She reached over and gently pressed the journal into his remaining good hand. "THIS is our Legacy."

* * *

On the other side of campus, Pyrrha was dealing with a mental conundrum of her own. Midway through a class on the history of the Vale she was struck by the incongruity of how for a man so incredibly energetic, Professor Oobleck could treat the subject of war so...well not necessarily blandly, but he certainly approached the subject with a flair that made it hard to say which was more interesting – his lecture, or the room's ceiling tiles.

She forced herself to stay attentive as the class had come to the start of the Color Wars, a terrible and bloody conflict that defined a generation of new Hunters and kingdoms. Normally pretty serious and exciting material, but today...

"-and so you see class, with the collapse of the tower at Mystral, this caused the early fall harvest shipments to be detoured. With these shortages in mind it then becomes obvious why the eastern front began to run dangerously low on supplies causing the field commander – Nemas of the Southern Moors, to first send out salvage patrols and then to institute the famous order that bears his name, cutting rations to all support personnel. This lead to resentment and distrust for the hunters who were still on full rations, and this lead directly to the losses at Cavaden, Vislios and Lunarfel that pushed the eastern forces to their furthest point since the darkest days of the Reclamation Wars 23 years previously..."

The professor's words flowed together into a mindless hum, Pyrrha's gaze having long since stopped following the lesson Professor Oobleck was diagramming on the chalkboard. Notetaking had been given up even earlier than that as her mind had begun to wander back to hospital at the other end of campus. She entertained the thought of feigning a trip to the restroom to cut the class entirely when the feeling of someone behind made her turn her head.

Cardin Winchester was leaning towards her from the row behind hers, his ever present sneer covering his face. "How's your boyfriend Nikos? He still on life support or did they move him back to the pediatric ward?"

Pyrrha crinkled her nose in disgust but said nothing. The interruption had knocked her out of her stupor and she tried to make the most of it. Turning back to listen to Oobleck's lecture, she felt herself being pelted with something. She almost turned around to confront Cardin but forced herself to ignore it. Why that oaf had such an obsession with tormenting their team she could never begin to understand. Could he still be angry about being saved from that Ursa by Jaune? It was already over a month ago and-

The impact of something more substantial against her neck finally made her turn around again only to have a pencil go whipping by her ear. "What is your problem!?" She hissed quietly.

"Just can't seem to figure out why the hell you aren't on an airship back home already." Cardin replied laconically. He flicked another pencil at her face which she swatted aside.

"I beg your pardon? Why would I be on an airship going home?"

"Oh I dunno. Illegal dust experiments...poisoning a whole bunch of people...that sounds like expulsion material to me." He ticked the offenses off on his fingers. "Can't understand why Vale police haven't dragged your asses out of here. Your whole team is a walking health hazard."

"I'm sure the school appreciates your concern for safety, between this and your demonstration of teamwork with Dove I'm sure everyone is making plans for your coronation as king protector of the Vale." Pyrrha spat back, turning around quickly in hopes of ending the conversation.

"Hey I'm not done with you-!"

"AH MR WINCHESTER! THANK YOU FOR VOLUNTEERING!" Professor Oobleck's high pitched voice suddenly pierced through the classroom, violently jolting the sleepy class awake. Pyrrha hasn't been the only one tuning out as several students knocked books off their desks and Nora plain fell out of hers. Before many had a chance to recover, Professor Oobleck was already walking across the room stopping in the aisle next to Pyrrha's desk to loom over Cardin.

"Now then since you appear to be so eager to discuss the lecture with Ms. Nikos perhaps you can explain to the class what was the significance of the moral implications of attrition sustained during foraging missions combined with the unequal distribution of supplies?!" The professor's rapid diction seems to overwhelm Cardin, his jaw hanging open slightly as he looks around for help.

"Uh well...the thing is...it was a war you know? So...wars are terrible, right?" Cardin's voice sputtered weakly into the silent classroom.

Oobleck made no effort at concealing his frustration. "Wars are terrible...quite." He quipped sarcastically. "Nothing about the near revolt of command that led Nemas to splinter the traditional 4-person hunter teams so as to embed hunters in amongst the ground troops? Hmm? Nothing? How about an easy one? How long had the 4-hunter team structure had been in place to this point?"

Cardin muttered something incoherently before shrugging his shoulders and slinking down into his chair, not bothering to look at the professor's eyes.

"Anyone else then!? Would another student kindly educate our good friend Mr. Winchester here on the correct answer? Ah Miss Nikos thank you!" Pyrrha's hand was held high in the air as she directed a sideways smirk back to Cardin.

"No one is certain of how long the practice had been in place," Pyrrha began as audible chortling emanated from Cardin's direction. "...however it was widely accepted the format had been in place for at least a century prior to the war of Colors. Many have credited the formation of the team structure along with other hunter tactics to this point to the great hunter Charlemagne Arc who codified most of standard hunter practices that continue to this day."

"Well phrased Miss Nikos!" Professor Oobleck exclaimed to the class. "Mr. Winchester I will be expecting a 3 page essay on the subject of the importance of the 4 team member structures by next class as it is clear you have not studied the material. Returning to the winter of that year, the use of hunters as, effectively, a special police force amongst the troops served only to exacerbate the morale problems, as well as leading to further breakdowns in the chain of command and internecine hoarding that would lead to the desperate doomed counteroffensive later in the year...-" The babbling drone of the professor's voice washed over the class, the room drifting back to the stupor it had previously enjoyed.

"You fucking showoff..." Cardin hissed at Pyrrha under his breath.

"Sounds like you have more work ahead of you..." Pyrrha grinned in spite of herself. "...don't worry I'll help you out. Section 436 in the library should have the information you need. Have fun!"

* * *

The remainder of the class passed in uneventful dullness capped off with the typical urgent rush for the exit. Everyone wanted out before Professor Oobleck had his "sparks of inspiration!" -Otherwise known as several additional pages being added onto their already voluminous assignments. Today thankfully, the escape was successful.

_Well...not for Cardin at least._ Pyrrha grinned as they made their way outside.

"Reeeeeennnn! Are you sure we can't drop Oobleck's class?" Nora moaned piteously, draping herself over Ren's shoulders. Her feet dragged along behind her as her "sloth attack" went into full effect.

"Gah! Nora, come on we're in the middle of the school grounds!" Ren replied, staggering under the sudden load.

"Awww you're no fun..." She whined, giving him the most precious of puppy dog eyes as she showed no signs of letting go.

"Nora seriously, you're a grown lady and you shouldn't be doing this any...anymore..." His resolve began to wilt under the combined assault of her impish grin and turquoise eyes...

With a sigh, his head slumped in defeat. "Fine...come on then." He pulled up her legs with his arms into a piggyback carry, while Nora buried her face into the back of his neck and hummed contentedly.

"And you know we can't drop his class, Nora. It's one of the required first year courses." He smiled patiently.

She groaned as she nuzzled the back of his head. "How can he make battles of the color war boring enough to put me to sleep?!" She huffed. "I wanted cool stuff about explosions and tanks and stuff! Not supplies shortages and geopolitical whatsitpoop!"

Pyrrha had a tiny chuckle at that. While it was interesting to see a perspective of the conflict from someone other than her grandparents and the old photos they were willing to show her, what intrigued her more was the realization of the surname of Charlemagne. She couldn't believe that it hadn't clicked for her until now but...did that mean that Jaune was related to him? Distantly perhaps? The thought churned in her head, half paying attention to Ren's and Nora's bickering until a loud shout made her look up. It was only then she realized that they had made it all the way to the central courtyard, where Cardin and his team were already waiting.

"Yo Nikos! We have some unfinished business!" Cardin shouted, his team around him flexing and chuckling.

"Just ignore them Pyrrha. No point in wasting time with these idiots." Ren urged gently as Nora growled in his ear.

"I'm not in the mood to play games Cardin." Pyrrha replied evenly, already angling off towards the dorms. "If you want to fight again you can wait for the sparring final at the end of the month."

Cardin moved to block her path, while the rest of his team closed in around them. "Why the hurry Nikos? Are you that eager to head back to that bombed out wreck of a dorm room? Or should I call it a bomb factory instead?"

"You tell em' man!" Russell yelled out.

"Please get out of our way. I'm not in the mood to chat." Pyrrha replied with far more calm than she felt at the moment.

"God look at the sight of you guys." Cardin continued. "I still can't understand how you idiots made it into Beacon." He paused then pointed at Pyrrha with a sadistic grin. "Well, you I can understand. But tell me; truthfully... those Mistral championship rings didn't just happen because of your fighting skill right?" He made a crude pantomime of sucking on a large object.

"YOU SHUT YOUR STUPID FACE!" Nora screamed, Ren was barely holding her back from leaping off his back to attack.

"Yeah and then there's you two. What's the matter Nora? Ate too many of those stupid pancakes your boytoy has to carry your fatass around now? That's probably the best workout he's ever gotten here." Cardin laughed loudly as more nearby students started drawing closer. It may have been a long day for many of them but a brewing fight was always enough to draw a crowd.

Pyrrha glared daggers at Cardin but said nothing. She wanted to whip out Akujo and shatter all the teeth in that stupid grin of his. But he, like everyone else here knew they were on Professor Goodwitch's shitlist, and a fight with this many witnesses would not be easily explained away.

"Awww whassa matta Nikos? Gonna cwy? You don't have your precious Jauney-boy here to save the day? Or is the dumbass trying to blow himself up again?"

"Loved the holes in the ceiling there guys! Adds a lot of natural light!" Sky chimed in to scattered chuckles amongst the crowd.

"Yeah!? Well that "dumbass" saved all of your stupid heads from that Ursa last month!" Nora yelled back.

Pyrrha winced as that last one appeared to have struck home. Cardin turned and scowled dangerously towards Ren and Nora. A large vein pulsed along his temple and for the first time since the confrontation began, his cruel expression was tinged with anger. "Put a muzzle on your bitch man or I'll do it for you." Cardin hissed at Ren before turning back towards Pyrrha, ignoring the sputtering sounds of rage coming from Nora.

"As I was saying, I'm having the hardest time figuring out how the fuck you all managed to stay in Beacon after what happened. Especially after all those photos came out on the scroll net! Looked like a goddamn warzone in there! Wonder what the parents would think of a bomb factory right here on campus!?" He exclaimed in mock horror.

Pyrrha stiffened at the thoughts of her parents seeing their dorm, as her hands involuntarily twitching towards her weapons. "You know going into another student's dorm without permission is against Beacon's rules, I wonder what would happen if the administration looked at the 'taken by' tag on those pictures floating around?"

Cardin pulled back as if slapped. "Such a horrible accusation to make! That doesn't sound like something the high and mighty queen bitch would dare say would she?" Cardin made to shove her back but she slide out the way, taking a step back in defense as Cardin pressed forward.

"Seriously, why haven't you packed your bags and left already? I'm sure Ozpin gave you all marching orders to get the fuck out of here. And if they won't do it, I'm sure my team can give you the right motivation to leave." He made a show of cracking his knuckles as stepped forward again. "So? Why the holdup? Get the fuck out of this school and never come back you stupid stuck up biiiiiYEAAAGHH-!"

The rest of the sentence died on his lips as several things happened in rapid succession. A shout went up from the crowd and the thumping of heavy boots had barely started to register before Cardin was bodyslammed to the ground. The whole exchange was a blur, everything happening so quickly Pyrrha was sure if she had blinked she would have missed it.

"Well now, what do we have here?" A blonde haired woman was kneeling atop Cardin, his face in the dirt with his arms painfully pulled behind his back. The ring of students who had been pressing in on their group earlier had pulled back, the rest of team Cardinal with them.

"AGH! WHAT THE FUCK GAHH-" Cardin screamed before a tug on one of his arms silenced him.

"I don't think so sparky. See I'm not exactly a fan of bullies, especially ones trying to start unsanctioned fights in the middle of Beacon campus." She yanked one of his arms further behind his back, eliciting another cry of pain. "So imagine my surprise when I see a bunch of loudmouth assholes ganging up on my brother's team? I would have thought no one would be that _stupid_ to do something like this in broad daylight."

"So, here's how it's going to be. I'm going to ask you some questions, and you're going to answer them. You don't play nice means I practice how reset a dislocated shoulder socket." She tugged again on his arms as a reminder that to re-set a socket, she'd need to undo it first. "Now who the hell are you and why are bothering these people?" Jean demanded.

"He's Cardin Winchester and he's an ass." Pyrrha cut in, before Cardin could sputter a defense.

A look of surprise crossed Jean's face at Cardin's family name. "A Winchester?! No shit? I haven't dealt with one of you lot in a while! Verdan Winchester still walking around with a limp?"

It was a moment before Cardin realized she was asking him a question. He struggled through the haze of pain as the name of one of his distant cousins finally floated to the top of his memory. "Uhh...yeah...I think so? I dunno I don't really see him that much!"

Jean's lips curved into a smile that made the collected crowd take a step back and might have caused Cardin to momentarily forget the pain shooting through his shoulder if his face had not still been pressed into the dirt. It was a cruel, sinister smile, one that even sent a shiver down Pyrrha's spine, reminiscent of Jaune possessed, a sight she had hoped not to witness ever again. "Next time you see him make sure to ask him why it's a bad idea to have carnal relations with the family horses." Making no effort to keep her comment private, the statement caused a ripple of hushed whispers and gasps to spread throughout the crowd.

Cardin was in too much pain and rage to be shocked at the comment. In a surprising show of resolve he managed to push himself a few inches off the ground, barely making eye contact out of the corner of his eye as he glared daggers up at Jean. Thoughts of Jaune and his team had vanished, replaced by a desire to get out of this mess on his own two feet, and with functional arms. More importantly he wanted to know who the fuck this bitch was and why did she look so familiar?

"Now then..." Jean continued, roughly grinding him back into the ground. "Any particular reason you're giving these folks a hard time? Or can I just chalk it up to hereditary Winchester stupidity?"

Cardin grit his teeth but managed to answer. "What the hell do you care? Who the fuck are you anyway? Are you some new professor or something? You gotta lotta nerve for attacking a student you asshole!"

"Genetic it is then. Well I'll tell you what Cardin, I'll give you a freebie here." Letting go of his arm she grabbed a fistful of his hair pulling his head up to look her in the eye as her knee dug into his spine, wrenching his back up at an awkward angle. "I am Dr. Jean Arc, eldest sister of Jaune Arc, and that's his team you're messing with." Cardin's face went pale as he recognized the blue eyes he had been looking down into for the last few months. But where Jaune's had that dopey, punchable appeal he enjoyed, what stared down at him now was like Weiss on steroids, a Valkyrie of death contemplating him like a butcher appraising a slab of meat.

"People say I'm a pretty good teacher Cardin." Jean continued, her eerily calm voice further unsettling her victim. "So I'm about to give you a quick lesson in Anatomy I think you'll find very important." She peeled back the fingers from one of his hands as she held the arm in place. "Did you know it only takes about 15 pounds of pressure to shatter the knuckle of a human hand? Kind of surprising given the long history of fighting with our bare hands but it's true." She pinched the knuckle of his index finger and began to squeeze, sending fresh stabs of pain up his arm.

"The thing is, I'm not a theoretician, I believe in the importance of demonstration and real world testing of hypothesis. Reading books, attending class, those are all fine and dandy, but in the end you have to get your hands dirty-" Cardin barely held back a scream as he felt the pressure increase. "-if you want to make the lesson stick. Do you know what I mean?"

Cardin nodded quickly, unable to say more as his breathing became rapid and shallow.

"Wait...Jean please you don't have to-" Pyrrha tried to intervene, realizing too late what she was about to do.

"Hold on now Pyrrha, I'm in the middle of a lesson here." She turned back to Cardin. "So let me be very clear here. You mess with Jaune or his teammates; you threaten him or give them a hard time again? Well...there are twenty seven bones in your hand, and another three in your arm and I have some theories on quantity versus quality to test in terms of how far someone's aura reserves will stretch."

With a final shove she pressed him back into the ground and rose to her feet. "Now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind."

Cardin pushed himself to one knee before collapsing, clutching his hand. The rest of his team looked on from the crowd, unsure as to whether it was safe to move in and help their leader. Shuffling back to his feet Cardin felt worse than at any moment in his short life. Always on the giving end when it came to doling out pain and ridicule, he wasn't accustomed to being on the receiving end. Tears fell freely from his eyes as he staggered to his feet, still clutching his swollen hand as he avoided looking at the sizable crowd of witnesses to his humiliation. For a moment he glanced towards Jean, looking for a second that he might rush over and slug the newest outlet for his rage. A single hard glance from the Doctor-Huntress killed that thought however, and he turned back towards his team, mustering his remaining courage to glare once at the crowd in an attempt to keep everyone else at a distance and silent.

"Nice backup there you assholes." He growled to his teammates, none of whom managed to say anything in response as they slinked away through the parting crowd.

With the retreat of the main actor on the stage, the crowd quickly started to disperse. Many shot looks over towards the tall blonde who had so thoroughly manhandled one of the biggest bullies in Beacon, though none had the courage to linger long. One thing was clear in everyone's minds though: Jean had just made Jaune and team JNPR off limits from any further harassment.

"That...was...AWESOME!" Nora leapt from the back of Ren and landed next to Pyrrha. "You made Cardin Winchester cry! Like a big 'ol baby!"

"Nora, that wasn't the right thing to-" Ren began before Nora held up a hand, her eyes closed.

"Shhhhhhhh, don't say anything Ren. You're ruining the memory. I wanna fix that image of Cardin crying in front of the whole school so I'll remember it for the rest of my life!"

Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh at Nora's reaction. She couldn't deny feeling more than a little pleasure at seeing Cardin finally getting some long-deserved comeuppance. She turned to Jean with a smile. "Thank you for helping us there Jean. It's been rather difficult dealing with him and his team lately. We do appreciate it."

Jean waved her hands in dismissal. "Don't worry about it. I just hate little shits like him that single out their fellow hunters – the Grimm are bad enough and cowards who would abuse their comrades just to puff themselves up are the worst sort."

"R-right." Pyrrha stammered. "I...assume you managed to see Jaune? Is he doing ok?"

There was something about the look she got from Jean that made Pyrrha's stomach tighten just as it had with Cardin. That same appraising look returned from before, like she was being judged for reasons and against criteria she knew not.

"Jean? Is everything ok? Is something wrong with Jaune? He hasn't gotten worse has he?" Fear tinged her voice as the silence drew out.

Looking around at the final stragglers of the crowd moving away it was several long moments before she replied. "Ok is a...'relative' term for my brother right now. Do you mind if we head back to your dorm room? We need to have a little chat."


	19. Chapter 19 - Old Paper and Broken Souls

**Good evening Folks!**

**Welcome again to another chapter of Legacy. We're (finally) getting the story moving along, including some interesting history between the Arcs and the Winchesters(!) As always, thank you for sticking around for each chapter as I craft a story to fit them. Feedback and reviews are always appreciated. I know I keep saying that I'm trying to craft smaller chapters, and I really do mean that. I end up getting caught in lore traps that run away from me. But enough about that, enjoy the story! :) **

Dormitories at Beacon were a standard affair. A surprisingly spacious sleeping area with 4 beds connected to a small kitchen and bathroom, the layout intended for a team to share in the daily responsibilities of room upkeep in the hope that it would inculcate them to function cohesively as a unit both in and out of combat. The clash of personalities resulting from four young adults stuck together day in and day out caused the expected conflicts, but for most part it worked. The more slovenly teammates rose to the occasion and by the second month most of the school's teams had their rooms squared away in a way that would have made an Atlesian Drill Sergeant proud. On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes there would be a synergistic spiral downward that had several teams' rooms achieving semi-legendary status as self-contained hazardous environment training simulators, deadly to anyone but their respective teams who dared enter.

Team CRDL's dorm fell squarely into the second group, their liberal use of air fresheners the only thing barely enough to blunt the odors even more abrasive and off-putting than their leader's demeanor. Each sleeping area was less a bed than a misshapen lumpy mess of pillows and blankets, unmade since the first day they had arrived. Clothes, food wrappers, Dust cartridges and various tools and equipment littered the floor in a minefield of odorous chaos that somehow went unnoticed by the room's occupants. The lone oasis in the sea of filth being Sky Lark's bed fastidiously made and properly put away, though such efforts stopped abruptly at the edge of his bed, as attested by the towering pile of instant noodle cups growing from his nightstand like some manner of squat stalagmite.

Motionless save for the slow march of decay a layer of discarded papers swirled into the air as the door to the room slammed open. Cardinal Winchester was the first inside; clutching his hand as he quickly picked his way across the room, heavy boots crushing or kicking a path through the undergrowth of refuse on his way to the kitchen. The rest of the team filed in slowly behind Sky gently closing the door behind.

"Fucking hell we really gotta clean this place up guys..." Sky groaned as he kicked aside a piece of clothing that had nearly completed a migration route to the door. "...I can't find my clean clothes pile anymore."

"You had clean clothes to begin with?" Russell snorted as Sky flicked him off in return while he carefully picked his way towards his bed. "If it bugs you so badly man, then do something about it." Russell replied, annoyance crossing his face for a moment as he adroitly hopped from clear patch to clear patch.

"It is getting pretty rank in here." Dove admitted as he reached his bed and brushed some sandwich wrappers from their last late night food run onto the floor. "We have any more of that air freshener from that old guy's Dust shop?"

"Used the last of it on Sky's soup cup collection." Russell jerked his thumb over to the pile. "Seriously man why don't you just throw those things out? The trash can is right-" His finger faltered as he looked around the room. Several mounds of junk were scattered throughout their sleeping area, and he uncertainly gestured in a vague direction, one of them had to be the trash can...probably.

"I'll get around to it, back off ok?" Sky growled. "With all the extra detention we've been doing I haven't exactly been spoiled for free time. At least we don't have to do that essay that Cardin got in Oobleck's..." He abruptly trailed off as Cardin trumped back into the room with a small ice pack pressed to his hand.

"You...alright Cardin?" Dove asked tentatively, shifting slightly to make sure he was out of striking range.

"Yeah..." Cardin growled. "...nice job helping me back there guys. Why don't you just cover me in barbecue sauce and throw me to the fucking Grimm after that psycho bitch was done with me?!" He snapped as he slumped down on his bed.

The tense silence that filled the room was all the more uncomfortable for the looks the remaining members gave each other. They had planned to bring their concerns to Cardin earlier today after getting out of Oobleck's class, but that was before Cardin had "earned" himself extra homework, and then being manhandled to the ground in the middle of campus. One thing they all had learned working under Cardin was that he didn't timeshare his temper. Once pissed off he stayed that way, and the threshold for him losing control of himself was uncomfortably low.

Dove finally broke the silence, privately regretting how the one time he had volunteered to help out with running the weekly supply report had effectively made him the mediator between Cardin and the rest of the team. "Look Cardin, we need to talk..." He nearly stopped at the dangerous look sent his direction. "...ok look this is something that has been bothering us pretty much since we got here." He paused again, and then looked towards Sky and Russell who, somewhat nervously, nodded for him to continue. "What the hell is your problem with Jaune Arc?"

Cardin's head cocked to one side. "My problem with-what?"

Dove hurried on. "Look man, why do you keep messing with him? I mean ok, he's an easy guy to fuck with, he doesn't have a spine worth a damn and it was fun at first pushing him around, but this much? It's getting kinda weird dude. He piss you off in a past life?" The attempt at humor quickly died on his lips as Cardin leaped back to his feet, his good hand balling into a fist. "I-I'm only bringing it up because it's causing problems man! You can't keep picking fights with him in front of people like that... we know what that Nikos chick can do, and now he has another psycho woman looking after him?"

"Yeah, I remember you dumbasses couldn't lay a single fucking finger on that redheaded bitch and just got in my way." He shot back, skipping past the fact that he had knocked Dove out during their spar with Pyrrha.

"Yeah, I remember." Dove replied evenly. "Look, I just want to know what's your beef with him? Ok so he's a fucking idiot and making fun of idiots has always been fun, but you're taking this way too seriously and it's affecting the team. Plus if that psycho doctor sister of his is hanging around campus we're going to have way worse problems than just a bad sparring session."

Sky and Russel shared a nervous glance, Dove was pushing a bit too hard, but the thought of stepping into the middle of it was about as appealing as snuggling up between two Ursai. Dove was saying things they had all been privately grumbling about since the Ursa-Sap incident, but there had never been the right moment to actually confront Cardin about it. Avoiding meeting Cardin's gaze the two were plotting out the most efficacious route out of the room so Cardin could simmer off his latest temper tantrum when their captain did something that surprised the whole team.

He didn't rage. He didn't explode or let out a torrent of curses. The mighty Cardin Winchester, biggest bully of Beacon and tormentor of so many other first years seemed to deflate before their eyes as he slumped down on his bed with a long sigh.

For a brief moment, no one moved. The rest of team Cardinal looked back and forth in frank puzzlement. They could see he was still pissed, Cardin was never good at concealing anything related to his emotions, but the fatigue his face now showed was something that they were not familiar with.

"Doesn't it bother you?" He began, his voice quiet, deflated compared to the usual roar it operated at. "Doesn't it just piss you off that he just keeps getting everything handed to him on a silver fucking platter?"

Dove cocked an eyebrow. "We uh...we're talking about Jaune right? The same guy who nearly faceplanted-into-the-ground-on-initiation-day Jaune?"

"Doesn't he mark which foot each of his shoes go on?" Russell chimed in incredulously. "That guy?"

"Yeah, that guy!" Cardin shouted as his temper flared back up like a dropped Burn Dust crystal. "Him and his whole damn family!" Cardin jumped up, stomping around the room tossing debris this way and that. "He forges his way in and Ozpin lets him stay...even makes the guy a fucking team captain!"

"Wait hold on..." Dove interrupted. "...I thought you didn't tell Professor Goodwitch about him when he-" He stumbled, remembering the Ursa incident. "-when you guys had that agreement. Did you end up telling them?"

"No, but I fucking should have." Cardin growled. "At least then it would make some kind of sense. I can't imagine someone like Ozpin or Goodwitch being tricked by that dumbass. They fucking know, and they're not doing anything about it. It's the same goddamn story all over again. The Arcs get first fuckin' pick and the Winchesters are left to pick through the scraps!" He slammed his good hand on the wall next to his bed hard enough to rattle the nightstand.

"Man what the hell are you talking about?!" Dove was thoroughly lost now. "First pick of what?"

"It's the same damn shit over and over again!" Cardin raged, pointing a finger at Dove and the rest of his team. "I've been spending damn near all my free time in the goddamn library because of all the bullshit extra work Goodwitch, Oobleck, and Peach sling my way. You wanna know what name keeps coming up in the damn history books? In fucking training manuals?"

Before they could even stutter a response he shot over them. "It's the fucking Arcs! Arc invented this, Arc designed that! Arcs fucking conquered this region before anyone else! Meanwhile nobody gives a crushed Dust crystal about the Winchesters! We're as old as they are! We fought our share of battles, we designed weapons too! But do we get any of recognition they do?!"

Cardin stalked around the room with wild eyes, fist clenching and unclenching as it searched for an outlet for its building rage.

"I uh...I guess they don't?" Russell managed to stammer out.

"Damn right we don't! And it's happening again!" Cardin shouted even louder. "The fucking worst Arc in recorded history and he has to be in my year! Making a fool of me! Cardin Winchester! When is it going to get easier for me huh? When are the Winchesters going to have our day!? Why does the fucking Arc family always have it so damn easy all of the time!?"

* * *

"Holy shit did this guy not have it easy..." Jaune muttered as he gingerly turned to the next page of the journal. As soon as Jean had departed he had wanted to start reading. The potential the book held, the stories and history...it had made his fingers tingle with anticipation. The most cursory examination told him that the book had seen a lot; burns, stains and what appeared to be teeth marks marring the cover and spine of the journal, giving it a battle-scarred appearance. Before he had a chance to crack it open however, the hospital staff had barged back into his room to conduct their daily checks and subject him to another round of unidentifiable slop that was his midday meal.

He bore it as best he could; making sure the journal was carefully hidden away under his pillow lest one of the nurses decided the worn tome was some sort of health hazard. Eager to be alone once more he made a show of shoveling down his food as best he could, commenting on how great the strained peas were in an effort to placate them from conducting further inquiries on his wellbeing.

As soon as the door shut behind the departing staff though, he pushed the tray out of the way and slipped his hand back under the pillow. Wincing at a shooting pain in his shoulder, he retrieved the journal and gently laid it down on his lap. With his good hand he peeled back the cover only to find the following pages to be nothing more than scribbled gibberish. Either the ink had worn itself away over the centuries or it was written in some text he couldn't decipher, he wasn't sure. Either way it was a bit of a blow to the excitement that had been bubbling under his skin since getting his hands on this book.

Frowning slightly, he flipped through several more of the delicate vellum pages of unintelligible scrawl before finally reaching some legible text. The date had faded out partially, but enough was visible to indicate the entry was over several hundred years ago. He eagerly looked further down the page, wondering what things were like back then...

_Entry No. 1, Winter 14*smudge*_

_ One can only wonder why I'm bothering to write this record of my travels. I can assure you it is not due to some ignoble vanity or concern about for whatever decedent thinks the musings of a wandering adventurer are worth more than a pile of beaverskin. I'm writing this because Griswald demanded that I put my grumblings to printed word instead of voicing them out loud all the time. She believes my bellyaching attracts the Grimm, the superstitious wench. As she purchased this journal with her own supplies, so I suppose I should oblige her wishes. Using it for doodles has lost its allure._

_Here are my thoughts:_

_-It is cold as a Grimmwolf's tit._

_-We are running low on food._

_-We are out of Juniper Beer._

_-We haven't come across another settlement in over a week._

_-I have a hole in my boot._

_-WereBeavers are trying to steal my supplies...the crafty buggers._

_-Did I mention it was cold?_

_I can't seem to come up with any more on account of it depressing me. Griswald claimed doing this would help put me at ease. I suppose that's the same idealism that convinced all of us to attempt this reclamation project in the first place. Recounting these problems only reminds me of the difficulties we face each day. Therefore I can only conclude that Griswald is a liar...or is merely tired of my voice, I think she would rather you future victim endure my complaints rather than suffer through them herself._

_I am inclined to believe the latter than the former. It is probably better I think this way in either case, that Iron Hammer of hers is bigger than my torso._

_Bloody Werebeavers..._

Jaune blinked, then read the entry again, sure that he had missed something. He had been expecting a lot from the journal. The history books he had become familiar with in the library spoke of his ancestor as a peerless warrior and tactician, uniting the disparate settlements and tribes under a single banner to finally pacify the majority of Sanus and establish the city of Vale under incredible odds and struggle. In every text he had come across, Charlemagne had been presented reverently, as the 'Savior of Sanus'. An unflappable man larger than life that did what had taken other continents far longer to accomplish and with significantly less loss of life and treasure.

This was the 'Savior of Sanus'? A man griping about the lack of beer in his canteen and-he looked back over the page-_werebeavers?_ That was a thing? It all sounded so small, so...petty. If Jean thought this was supposed to inspire him somehow, she had one twisted sense of altruism. All he took away from this was that if one of his teammates presented him with a journal to write his thoughts down, it probably meant he was spending too much time complaining. Putting faith in his sister's judgment he carefully flipped to the next page. Then to the next. Entry after entry appeared to contain nothing more than the private grumblings of a man facing hostile settlements, bad weather-_disagreements with the Winchesters?_-and what appeared to be a persistent lack of sufficient quantities of Juniper Beer. All of his hopes of learning something about tactics or leadership were leaving as rapidly as steam escaping from a kettle. This was their family's Legacy? This was what Jean was so worked up over when she had smuggled this to him?

With a surge of anger, he slapped the journal shut before he read the next entry. "The hell is this all about sis?" He raged at the ceiling, the mechanical hum and beep of his medical devices his only reply.

* * *

"I'm going to need you to run that by me again." Ren demanded. At Jean's request they had gathered in JNPR's dorm room and, with the help of all present, managed to extract the door from the end of the hall and prop it back into their cracked doorframe. The drinking fountain proved a total loss, and would probably be yet another item on their punishment list from the janitorial staff.

"Like I said Ren," Jean replied simply as she piled more debris aside for disposal. Feeling a touch guilty at how bad things had started between them, her latent big-sis instincts had taken over, immediately sending her walking about the room and picking up heavier items the team hadn't dealt with yet. "Jaune gave me the skinny on what really happened here. And before you all freak out about it-" She held up her hands to the panicked looks heading her way. "-I'm not going to speak a word of this to anyone. He told me about the alibi you all concocted, and I plan to stick to it." She quickly walked over to the thoroughly battered entry door, tilted it outwards to check the hallway for students, then retreated, propping it back into place.

"First thing will be to get that door replaced in my opinion..." She muttered turning back to them. "...that's why I wanted to talk to you in private. There are a few things you need to know." She looked around for a place to sit, and realizing there weren't really any functional chairs left the team members hadn't occupied, positioned herself on the edge of what remained of Jaune's bed.

"Alright so...the main thing you need to understand is, Jaune's kind of...special..."

"We kinda gathered that!" Nora piped up. "I mean don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy and all but he's not the sharpest sword in the armory if you get my-"

"Nora!" Ren cut her off.

"Whaat?! It's true Ren, you don't have to stand up for him all the time!" She waved her hands dismissively, not noticing the rather stern look she was getting from Pyrrha.

"No wait, hold on." Jean raised her hands to stop the conversation. "I don't mean like that, I mean..."

"What is it Jean?" Pyrrha inquired delicately. "Some kind of congenital issue we need to know about?"

Jean looked over towards her. "You could say that." She sighed again, closing her eyes and massaging her temples. "Ok look, before we go any further. I need to impress upon you how important and how...sensitive this information is. This affects more than just Jaune and myself, and if I find any mention of this on Beacon's scroll net, whoever leaked it will envy that orange-haired shit I brought into line this morning."

"I uhh...I think we can handle that." Pyrrha replied as Ren nodded in agreement.

"Hoooboy this should be good!" Nora shot off, not bothering to conceal the sarcasm in her voice. "What? Juane got some ancient curse that makes him go all crazypants or something?"

Ren made to shush her again but stopped when he saw the pained expression coming from Jean. Nora looked from Ren to Jean and back again, comprehension crossing her face. "I wasn't serious I mean...wait...you're serious? I was just bsing!"

"He's really cursed!?" Pyrrha.

"Ok calm down all of you!" Jean shouted. "He's not really cursed. It's a bit... more complicated than that."

"You're still not making any sense-what's wrong with Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

Jean didn't respond right away. Blinking slowly she took a deep breath and clasped her hands together before looking back at them. Her gaze was hard as she looked between the three young teammates, only Pyrrha able to resist turning away, and even that with some difficulty. "It's not so much what's wrong with Jaune as what's wrong with the Arc family, our bloodline…"

"Normally, if someone manages to unlock their Aura and train to discover their semblance the form it takes is unique, a reflection of their individual, for sure, but how that manifests is generally considered unpredictable. 'A reflection of your personal essence' was what they called it back when I was in school." They nodded in agreement. "For the vast majority of the hunter population, that is the case. But few rules are absolute. The Schnee family being the most well-known example of predictable manifestation. I believe one of them is currently attending Beacon in your class. You ever dealt with them?"

"Sort of..." Pyrrha replied uncomfortably. "...the one here-Weiss tried to recruit me to her team during initiation but it obviously didn't turn out that way. Our teams do practice together occasionally and eat lunch together. She's quite a...spirited huntress."

Jean grunted. "You don't have to sugarcoat it around me Pyrrha. The Schnee temper isn't all that different from the Winchesters, merely blessed by fate with a bit more competency and a whole lot more wealth. What I'm talking about though is that the Schnees have a shared family semblance. All known members of the Schnee bloodline have been Dust-casters, most of considerable ability." She leaned back against the cracked wall behind Jaune's bed, her diction slipping back into that of a teaching physician. "It is a thing they like to show off and trumpet to the world. Shows how gifted and important they are, the only family in the known world with a powerful shared semblance!" She finished, an edge of sarcasm creeping into her voice.

"The thing is, that isn't entirely true. They are public about it, but they are not the only kid on the block with a Legacy. We Arcs have a birthright of our own, and it, like our name, goes back far further than the Shnee."

The announcement stunned team JNPR, though this time it was Ren who first managed to find his voice. "Wait, but why hasn't there been anything written about that?! I've seen numerous texts about how the Schnees showcased their semblance as a sign of their genetic superiority, and it was key to them establishing themselves during the early settlement of Mantle. Why hasn't anything been said about the Arcs?"

Jean held up two fingers. "Two reasons. One, our semblance isn't as visually flashy as the Schnees' and thus easier to hide, and two, it can have... consequences for those around you." She paused and then looked down. "You had a taste of the latter earlier. For that I apologize."

"We saw it? What do you mean? When?" Nora exclaimed excitedly. Jean looked up for a moment, a concern crossing her face before closing her eyes and sighing heavily.

"It's...probably simpler if I show you." She rose slowly, almost as if with fatigue... or dread? as she walked from her brother's bed to the center of the room. "Pyrrha, if you would? You handled it the best out of the three of you." Pyrrha hesitated for a brief second, glancing to Ren and Nora for support before taking the few steps to stand before Jean, somehow feeling small before the older woman despite standing half a head taller.

"Alright, please try to relax. I'll try to make it as quick as possible." Jean closed her eyes and exhaled deeply.

"What are you-?" Nora began, then choked, the words dead in her throat as she threw herself behind Ren in blind panic. Ren stood in shock as arena-honed reflexes caused Pyrrha to stiffen as Jean's eyes snapped open and Pyrrha's gaze was swallowed up by the twin blue orbs. A familiar thread of icy dread shot up Pyrrha's spine, freezing her in place while her heart thundered in her chest, adrenaline and primordial fear taking hold like concentrated Grimm essence. Every instinct she had told her to flee, yet she held her ground through sheer determination as a sickening kaleidescope of horrid thoughts swam through her mind:

The first Grimm she had ever faced...

...Her first ever Mistral Tournament...

...The Initiation Exam...

The thoughts assaulted her one by one, her darkest memories reaching up from the twin cold orbs staring her down. Then Jean blinked. As quickly as it had begun the spell was broken, the memories evaporating back into ephemeral vapors. Pyrrha's knees buckled slightly with the return of control, but she remained standing.

"W-what was that!?" Nora shrieked as she peeked out from behind her partner.

"What did you do?!" Ren asked, standing guardedly in front of her, his pink aura glowing gently around the pair while he looked on in bewilderment.

"I'm sorry about that but it is easier to explain if I showed you first." Jean apologized with quiet sincerity as she helped Pyrrha back to her seat. "What you just felt is the side effect of the Arc family semblance."

"So...when we first met here, when I charged into the room? That was...?" Pyrrha breathlessly stuttered as Jean simply nodded. "But I still don't understand...how did you do it? What is it? It felt like...concentrated despair like...I don't even know how to articulate how horrible it felt!"

"It's gone through a lot of names throughout our history: Battle Focus, Dread Rage, Killing Intent." Jean ticked the terms off her fingers as she made her way back to her seat. "You've all been on missions to hunt Grimm, right? You ever have that feeling that sends the hairs on the back of your neck rigid? That something out there is watching you, waiting to pounce? In essence, that is what the Arc semblance does to those around us, just amplified by one's aura on a greater scale. To our enemies...to our allies... all are Prey in the grand hunt. An Arc's own fears dissolve, magnified to become everyone else's, or as my ancestors put it, 'One Fear becomes Many'. When an Arc fully taps into their semblance they lose any sense of fear, of doubt, their negative emotions cast out to form a protective screen and enabling them to totally focus their energies and improve combat ability manyfold."

"But you used it now when you were calm." Ren interjected. "A semblance requires a great expenditure of aura and stamina, yet you called yours up in an instant... how?"

"Very observant." Jean smiled in reply. "I take it you were the one who formulated those tonics Jaune drank?"

Ren nodded. "It's a family recipe, but I did the actual mixing and administering to Jaune if that's what you're asking. Why?"

"Meant to thank you for that." She nodded, stretching her arms before continuing. "I saw enough of his chart at the hospital to know Jaune was in a seriously bad situation there. That tonic of yours was responsible for purging the worst of the Dust contamination out of him, without it... Well, I just wanted to thank you." Ren nodded nervously in acceptance, still off balance from her earlier display as Jean's tone turned serious. "But to return to the original topic. The Arc family semblance varies a bit from member to member. Going back to the Schnees as an example, their expertise with dust magic varies, some are expert summoners of Golems and Wraiths, while others are more adept at glyphs for offensive or defensive evocations."

Jean pointed towards herself. "It's the same with us, though with more extreme variance and in that there has historically been something of a generational component. At a minimum it may just manifest as nothing more than enhanced pain suppression or accelerated healing beyond what Dust is capable of. In every case however, when our full semblance is up we are able to singularly focus our mind and body in pursuit of an objective, no matter how terrible or dangerous the situation may be, and complete it, regardless of the odds."

"Forgive me for interrupting again-" Ren began before Jean waved for him to continue. "-but what you've said so far doesn't sound all that bad. The implications for combat alone seem to make it a gift from the heavens, well at least for more remote operations. So why the secrecy about it?"

"You've already seen why." Jean replied coldly. While our semblance allows us to become exponentially more effective in combat, both mentally and physically, we do so at the expense of almost everyone else around us. Wars, battles, they are won by armies, not by a single warrior, no matter how powerful he-or she," She inclined her head towards Pyrrha, "may be, and it's hard to conduct hunting operations when there is a possibility of terrifying your entire squad. So, many Arcs have learned to…well if not suppress it, then at least use it very sparingly out in the open." Jean grimaced. "What's worse, in Jaune's case, is that there is something of a patrimonial component. It has a tendency to manifest more...spectacularly amongst the males in the family, and until recently the degree seemed to have some correlation to gender balance among siblings."

"You mean Jaune? This could all happen again? He could go all psycho crazypants on us?!" Nora demanded.

"It's a non-zero possibility, yes." Jean replied. "There have been stories...some pretty astounding. The historians have written of Arc males suddenly charging in to a horde of Grimm, ignoring all attempts at communication or reason as they destroyed everything in their path. Charlemagne was said to have taken on a Goliath alone and not just survived, but came out the victor, its head caved in using only his shield. What the histories don't say, the public ones, at least, is that he didn't want to fight the Goliath alone; it was that when he went all out his entire army abandoned him in terror."

Jean's eyes slid out of focus, remembering the passage from the journal while she had cowered under the covers in her bed, fingers trembling on the pages at the graphic description of what happened. "That was the earliest major record we have of a full force Arc semblance. You want to know why Charlemagne's team was composed of four hunters rather than five or seven? Those other three were the only ones in his entire army of thousands who could remain at his side when his semblance activated." Jean leaned back and closed her eyes.

_"'With One Pillar there is strength, but no stability_

_Isolation will not bring success_

_With Four there is strength and control_

_Joined in a common goal The Three Pillars support the Center._

_Four, united as one, will triumph over all'"_

Jean opened her eyes to confused looks from the rest of the team members.

"That…isn't that the Hunter Team Precept?" Ren began. "But it's different…the line about the center... I've never heard that before…"

Jean nodded. "What I recited was the original version of it, coined by Sashka Felhardt, one of Charlemagne's inner circle and his main chronicler. An entire martial tradition, the foundation design of Hunters and their team structure, built on copying the appearance of success without understanding the unique cause of the original decision."

Team JNPR was at a loss for words, looking back and forth to each other and Jean as the enormity of what they just heard dawned upon them. Jean appeared not to notice and continued on.

"To be honest, though, the family thought it had skipped a generation. Jaune never showed any signs of manifesting even an aura growing up, he didn't even seem like he-" she paused, before continuing. "Well, anyway, our parents, almost the whole family, really, had come to the conclusion that the whole thing had skipped him over and so they let him come here, the rest of them never expecting he'd prove to be such a... impressive example of the family curse…"

Nora took a step forward. "Impressive!? In case you forgot, Jaune nearly killed us! You've got a fucked up sense of what's impressive lady!"

"I'm well aware of that, thank you." Jean countered. "I'm also aware that these extreme manifestations are exceedingly rare, from what I know of his display we haven't had one that powerful in several generations."

"But you just said-" Ren began.

"Yes I did say the males have it worse, but it doesn't always show up as severe. Most of the time it isn't all that much stronger than mine. However..." She grimaced. "...yes the more...extreme... manifestations will always occur in the male line."

"Wait, wait, male line, and earlier you said that siblings affected it?" Ren asked.

Jean frowned uncomfortably. "There has historically been a...correlation between the strength of manifestation and the ratio of male to female siblings."

"Jaune said he had what... seven sisters?" Pyrrha asked. "When was the last time that happened in your family?"

"It hasn't." Jean replied. "Charlemagne had four sisters, and another two that died in childbirth. Hard times back then, it wasn't uncommon."

"Wait, you're saying Jaune is more powerful than-" Nora's eyes went wide.

Jean sighed and shrugged. "I'm saying I don't know. Nobody really understands how this sort of hereditary semblance works and Jaune had a-and pardon the technical term-a _shit-ton_ of Dust in his system ok? And not just any Dust but two of perhaps the most unstable and potentially toxic variants the medical community are aware of. It makes an accurate diagnosis difficult." Her eyes narrowed as she looked around the group. "And where the hell did he get those Dust drinks anyway? All he would say is he got it from another student but he wouldn't tell me who."

The team looked around uncomfortably as they considered Jean's demand for information. "Y-you won't hurt her will you? She's really a good friend and she was only trying to help him out." Pyrrha finally replied.

Jean held up her hands. "You have my word I won't harm a hair on her body. I don't think it's going to be a problem for Jaune going forward, anyway, but I'm concerned who might be lacing drinks with this shit and where they're coming from. This is starting to look a lot like the Green Scream epidemic all over again, just with a different delivery method."

"Green Scream? That some new ice cream flavor or something?" Nora blurted out.

"I wish it were. At least then I wouldn't have anything more serious to treat than brain freezes. It was a designer drug that popped up a couple of years ago. Gave you an insane boost of energy and stamina that lasted for hours. Was a big hit with the hunter and military communities for obvious reasons. I'm actually kind of glad you haven't heard of it, to be honest but-"

"Grimm's Blood!" Pyrrha suddenly exclaimed cutting Jean off. "I'm sorry!" She quickly hurried on to the confused looks of everyone around her. "I mean I've heard of something like that in Mistral. A fighter got permanently banned from the Mistral Tournament for using something called Grimm's Blood! It gave him an insane amount of energy but-"

"Let me guess...turned him into a bit of an unstable loon as well?" Jean finished for her.

"Yes..." She mused, almost in a whisper. "...I didn't fight him personally you see, but I did hear about the fallout. He kept attacking his opponent despite the safety sensors saying he was out of Aura and disqualified. It took half the referees working the event to finally subdue him. It was a terrible incident, nearly got the whole tournament canceled that year."

"That definitely does sound like Green Scream, not surprising that they'd change up the name." Jean shook her head. "Anyhow, as for Jaune? Well like I said, it could have been the dust, or he could be this generation's "Broken Soul" as one of our more poetic ancestors liked to call them. But for now we can't know for sure. Not until we get him cleaned up, out of the hospital, and back to training."

"How do you know all this?" Pyrrha asked. "Jaune told us a bit about his family but he said you don't really have much contact with them. How did you learn all of this?"

Jean grunted in amusement then leaned back against the wall. "One thing you have to understand Pyrrah is that when you have a family line as long and well known as ours, your ancestors tend to start writing things down. Damn near everything really. 'Preserve the wisdom for the next generation' or something, make sure the name lives on, that their descendants have an edge over the next generation of all the other great houses. What Dust works best, what tactics to avoid, where all the bodies are buried, so forth and so on. Keep doing that for enough years and the family library and vaults start getting crammed with all sorts of stuff to the point that no one person even knows what all is there. Makes separating the wheat from the chaff a pain in the ass. But I lucked out when I had the chance to poke around in Dad's archives and found some nuggets of value amongst the reams of self-congratulating personal diaries and receipts for two centuries of landscapers tending the manor grounds."

"So what did you find?" Nora rejoined the conversation.

"Well I certainly found things that help explain this mess with Jaune." Jean said waving vaguely towards the rest of the room. "Found an impressive recipe for Dust infused ice cream of all things, and how best to treat spider bites, that actually came in handy when I was working a field hospital a few years back, you would not believe how even when you think you finally have a relatively sterile infirmary setup those eight-legged buggers will sneak in to-" She smiled. "The rest, well, you'll forgive me if I'd prefer to keep that to myself for now. A family does have to keep some of its secrets. And going over the ones I can talk about would take too long anyway." She finished and stood up. "The more important thing we have to discuss now is where do you want to go from here?"

"What are you talking about?" Pyrrha's look of confusion was mirrored on the rest of the team's faces.

"I mean what do you guys want to do with regards to Jaune? Have you decided? He gave me his decision, but this isn't just a team matter, you deserve to make choices yourself."

"Oh yeah?" Nora challenged. "And what's Crazypants 'decided' then?"

"He wants to earn your trust back." Jean replied. "He wants nothing more than to get out of that hospital bed and start training again with you all if you'll have him back. His words, not mine by the way."

"Just like that?" Ren asked.

"Just like that." Jean finished. "Look, I already know he's spoken with each of you since the... incident. I'm not saying this simply because he's my little brother. This is all his decision, he really does want to continue training to be a hunter and be a part of team JNPR. Hell, I even offered him the possibility of quitting Beacon and coming with me and he turned me down." She confirmed the shocked looks heading her way from the others in the room. "I would have found him work where I live, and he certainly would earn decent coin, ex hunter or not."

This was stretching the truth a tad if she was being honest, but it did drive home the point better with his teammates. "He refused point blank. His singular focus right now is getting well and trying to earn his place back on your team, one way or another." She folded her arms.

"So what's it gonna be?"

* * *

"I need to get the hell out of here." Jaune fumed at the empty room. His vital monitors beeped at him in admonishment as his heart rate climbed in concert with his frustration. What the hell had he been thinking? Did he really expect a falling apart old journal to solve his problems? All he had learned so far was where his dad got his preference for Juniper Beer. It was all a Grimm-damned waste of time. Here he was cooped up in this damn bed with the horrible slop that passed for food and these damn rods sticking out of his arm and legs.

He glared in annoyance at the shiny chrome protruding from his flesh. The mounts had become a consistent annoyance over the past several days, their presence a reminder of his injuries and an increasingly large portion of the background pain he felt every waking moment. He felt trapped, like a caged animal. Dust's sake he had been a caged animal for the first two days being chained to the bed and everything. Even now it seemed like half the hospital acted like at any minute he was going to turn into a Beowulf and eat a nurse.

He exhaled loudly as he fell back onto the pillow. Looking to his mangled left arm he eyed the metal bolts sticking up with unmasked disgust, wishing somehow they would just go away. He wiggled his fingers and felt the rigid pain of the metal as it ground against his mending bones and tendons, feeling the sinew stretch around the unyielding obstacles. One of the nurses had caught him doing that earlier in the week and had scolded him for it, but right now he didn't care. The pain reminded him of why he was here. How he had failed. Failed at being a leader, a hunter,..and an Arc. In spite of everything, he did still want to be a hunter. He had told the truth to Jean several hours ago, but with reflection and his source of hope a fool's errand, those words now sounded hollow, a bout of false bravado in the face of all of...this.

He continued staring his arm. Focusing on all of the minute details he could; each scar, each bandage and IV lead, he catalogued and stored as a reminder of how he had failed. Not just failed, screwed up. Moving further down his limb his gaze fell upon the unbandaged section of his hand. A large cut had sealed itself leaving behind a rather impressive scab that was well on its way to scarring. _What had made that?_ He wondered idly, his wounds so numerous there were few whose causal blow he could recall. Another reminder that Jaune Arc was a failure. Jaune Arc couldn't figure things out on his own, couldn't lead a team, couldn't stop those worthless ingrates from standing in his-

He jerked upward. What the hell was he thinking?! Before he had a chance to ponder any further, he felt his chest suddenly seize around his heart. His uninjured hand shot up to his breast, but the sensation disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived. Looking around quickly, he felt his stomach drop, as if he had just come to the edge of a tall cliff. But...he was here in bed. In this room in a hospital...how could-?

The room...

Something was wrong with the room...his eyes frantically looked around. Everything was the same and yet...he turned and craned his neck towards the monitors and machines keeping him healthy. They were still there, flashing and showing his readouts climb higher and higher as his stress mounted, and yet... everything had gone deathly quiet. All the background noises he had gotten used to over the past several days, the PA system, the AC, muffled click and clack of feet going past his door...they had all disappeared.

"What the hell...?" None of this made any sense. Looking around again his eyes scanned the room's interior, trying to understand what was going on before falling upon his injured arm once again. He bared his teeth in a snarl. If only this grimm-damned thing wasn't stuck here like this and-

Something was...he wiggled his fingers. Something was different, it was right in front of him and yet he couldn't quite figure it out. What was different? What was it? And why did it matter so much?

_The scar!_ The large scab on top of his hand was gone! As if there had never been an injury there at all.

"How did I do that?" He had been certain it was there before. He remembered it itching horribly on the first night and he had just seen it, hadn't he? Either he was even crazier than he previously thought or he had just healed it like nothing. He tried to recall what he had done to make that happen. He had been looking at it really hard...wishing it would go away...

Was that it? It couldn't be that simple...could it? No, that would mean he could have-but that would be impossible! No one could heal like that. Not without Dust or medicine or something and-He shook his head again. "Focus, man. Slow down and think." He exhaled and tried to slow his breathing. Before he had taken another breath his chest tightened again with an ominous familiarity.

"Oh no...not now...not here!" He closed his eye and shook his head. Back to the hand. Don't think about anything else. He wanted the scar to go away. He wanted to heal so he could get out of here. That was it wasn't it? Was it that simple? Just...think of his arm healing and that would be it? The thought sounded ludicrous before he had even finished it, but...

"Worth a shot?" He muttered, asking his injured arm for its opinion though it mutely failed to respond. Fine, he'd start small then. His eye was drawn to the glittering steel pins in his hand, focusing on the first metal pin holding his index finger's knuckle. Visualizing the size and shape, he closed his eyes, imagining a nurse finally removing it, seeing it exit his flesh, to move his finger without feeling that damn pin in it and-

"OW!" A stab of pain exploded up his arm and he bit his lip to suppress another scream while bright pops of light dazzled him under his eyelids. After taking a few more ragged breaths the pain subsided. Did it work? It felt like he had just been stabbed in the hand. He almost didn't want to find out either way, but he had to know, he had to see if this crazy idea was bearing fruit. Taking a deep breath he cracked open his good eye and peeked at his hand, then opened his eye wide in shock. The first thing he saw was blood. A large stream tracing out from where the pin had been fixed to his knuckle. The pin itself was sitting in a bloody pool on the bed, the finger it had been mounted to bloody, but the skin, once pierced, now unblemished.

"Holy shit it actually worked." He stated, moving his finger without any pain. Perhaps "worked" was a generous assessment of the whole experience, but he was relieved to have a functioning finger, though it had come at the cost of feeling a metal spike being driven through his hand. Still...

He took another deep breath and focused on the next pin. Then the next, soon settling into a routine for each one: first imagining the pin being removed, followed by nearly coming to tears as the searing pain followed again and again with each rod forcibly expelled from his flesh. Strangely enough, the more pins he expelled from his body, the less and less the pain seemed to reach him. It was a surreal feeling, like the pain was fading from his immediate focus to be a mere background distraction. Either way, he was happy for the relief. Breathing carefully, with an eye to the monitors lest he overexert and draw an interruption from a nurse he was almost halfway through the sets of pins on his arms when his chest seized again, more violently this time, driving the breath from his lungs. As he tried to suck more air back in, the faintest whisper echoed inside of his head.

_**What are you doing?**_

Jaune froze. Staring at the pooling blood gathering below his arm, he felt cold sweat break out across his skin. No. Not again. He wouldn't let it. Not here. Not with all of these people around. Taking what felt like the hardest breath he'd ever taken in his life, he forced his chest to expand and stared at the next pin in his arm. He managed three more pins this time before his chest seized again so painfully he gagged and threw up the morning's breakfast all over his chest. Sputtering and spitting to get the taste of bile out of his mouth, his lungs slowly, almost begrudgingly inflated with fresh air, like a small child reluctantly picking up their room at the end of the day.

_**Trying to fight? It won't work. You're too weak.**_

"Go... to...hell" He rasped to the empty room, gagging again as a fresh surge of bile welled up in his throat. The smell and taste was ghastly, but it least gave him a distraction, something tangible to focus on.

_**Go? We're already there...**_

Forcing himself to ignore the taunt, he turned back to his arm and resumed his work. Gritting his teeth it seemed like hours before he finally managed to force the last pin from a spot near his elbow and for it to fall to the floor with a loud tingling of metal.

"Guuh..." The coppery scent of blood, sweat, and vomit mixed with the too-sanitary lemon disinfectant air of the hospital, making him want to retch again. His arm looked like it had just hatched from a bloody metallic cocoon. But the pain, the restriction, were both gone. With ginger movements of his fingers, he flexed his hand, then wrist and finally the elbow, testing the motion of his newly liberated appendage for the first time since the fight against his team shattered it. He had done it. He had really healed something as major as this! He couldn't wait to tell Jean and...

The elation at his recent victory left him just as quickly as it had arrived. His gaze traced down his body to fall upon his legs, each laden with at least double the number of bolts in his arm. Just getting through the arm had been bad enough but this...and his other eye... Could he possibly regenerate that much damage...?

_**You can't. Do you really think you can fight without legs? And half blind? Give up.**_

"I said go to hell!" He gagged midway, as his chest seized yet once more, sending waves of pain rippling across his chest and doubling him over. A red flashing strobe started flickering on one of the monitors behind him, sending crimson lances of light dancing across the ceiling and walls of the room. He resisted the temptation to consider what it meant and turned back to his legs.

"Got...k-keep...going..." The declaration came out more as a gurgle, but the intent was clear enough to anyone that might have heard. He brought up his newly healed hand and felt the patch covering his eye. Healing wounds and bones was one thing but could he really fix something this complex? Dust's sake this whole experience was insane. If it weren't for all the pain he was going through he would have sworn it was another nightmare. Then again, the line between nightmares and reality had blurred for him since coming to Beacon. He had to keep moving forward if he was going to get out of this damn place and get back to his team.

He blinked. That was it. Images of his teammates flashed through his mind, each one a source of familiarity and warmth to blossom within him. Nora...Ren...Pyrrha. The thought of being with them...training with them...just being in a normal bed again in their dorm room…He took another look towards his legs, then felt the patch over his eye one more time.

_**Depending on your team again? It will not work, you fool. They will abandon you. You are weak, incapable, nothing without me.**_

Taking a shuddering breath, he closed his good eye and focused as hard as he could. For a second, it felt like he had messed up, overreached, that nothing was going to happen. Then a fire blazed in the ruined socket, roaring down his body, the start of a scream caught on his lips before conscious thought fled before an armada light and pain.

* * *

"All I'm saying is that we could have simply waited for Jaune to be discharged instead of using up our free period!" Weiss huffed as team RWBY made their way across the hospital lobby.

"Easy there Ice Queen, you might let some compassion leak out of your frozen heart." Yang said rolling her eyes.

"Seriously Weiss, it's just a quick visit!" Ruby interjected before Weiss could lob her verbal retort. "Jaune's been cooped up in that room for days now, the least we can do is say hello and give him encouragement to get better. Besides you owe him for initiation anyway!" Ruby said wagging her finger at the Heiress.

"And just what do I owe that blond dolt!?" She shrieked. "If anything he owes me for all the grief he's put me through with that horrible guitar of his!"

"Didn't he grab you out of the air and break your fall from the Nevermore-?" Ruby began. Weiss flared with sudden anger.

"Which was all YOUR fault by the way! If you hadn't been such a reckless, brain-dead-"

"We're next." Blake interrupted quietly. Ignoring the bickering going on with the rest of her team while they moved through the queue, she surveyed the sights and smells of the lobby, amber eyes darting back and forth as her bow flattened against her head.

After a lengthy series of warnings from the receptionist followed by a brief guide how to get around, the group made their way deeper into the hospital to where Jaune's room had been indicated. As they walked through the hallways, dodging personnel and patients, the argument rekindled itself again.

"Seriously Weiss, if you were gonna throw such a fit, you didn't have to come with us." Yang groused. Her own reason for coming along was more simple curiosity than anything else. Jaune had managed to survive a full blown Dust explosion in his dorm and still had all his limbs attached. That alone placed him a few notches higher in her book. Maybe her initial impressions about him had been wrong? Certainly couldn't hurt to find out. If he could take that kind of punishment, he'd make a worthwhile sparring partner, she grinned to herself. Outside of Pyrrha, good challenges had become hard to find since the beginning of the year as her reputation scared off most of everyone else in their class.

"I certainly wouldn't be if a certain someone hadn't abused her position on the team!" Weiss shot back, sending a wilting glare towards Ruby who, to Yang's pride, held her ground against the heiress.

"We're a team Weiss. And part of being a team means we have to do things together! That means combat practice, cooking the food, cleaning-" Weiss finally threw up her hands in surrender.

"Ok ok! I get it!" She said with a sigh. "I still think it's an abuse of power, and a waste of time. We're going to see him in class eventually anyway; we don't need to spend our free time walking around in this disease factory to see someone not even on our own team."

"He has a name Weiss!" Ruby pouted.

"I'm not one to normally agree-" Blake began to scandalized looks from Ruby and Yang.

"Don't tell me you're taking her side!" Yang exclaimed but Blake quickly shook her head before looking around the corridor. They were almost to Jaune's room. Blake had been quiet about it to this point, but the mounting sense of discomfort in her gut couldn't be ignored any longer.

"-No no it's not that. It's just..." She paused, fidgeting slightly. "...I-I don't really feel comfortable in hospitals ok? They just...Can we please just see Jaune as quickly as possible and get out of here? I swear I don't have anything against the guy Ruby, I just don't like being here ok?"

Ruby scrunched her face in disappointment but nodded to Blake's request.

"Finally some sense!" Weiss exclaimed. "Come on that dolt's room should be right around here somewhere? Where is...?" She stopped midstride when she saw the horrified expression that had suddenly appeared on Blake's face. "Blake? What's going on?"

Blake's eyes were as wide as the plates from the cafeteria while her bow made an admirable attempt to reach for the ceiling. "Did-did you guys hear that?!" She hissed. Her whole body had gone rigid, hands tightening into fists, her whole body white as a sheet. She wasn't the only one reacting to something going wrong, either. Several hospital staff in the hallway had also stopped, looking around the corridor in confusion.

"I didn't hear anything Blake, maybe you were just imagining things?" Ruby offered meekly.

"I know what I heard Ruby!" Blake shook her head sharply. "That was a scream and it was coming from down that way." She pointed further along the hallway.

"Should we...should we get someone? A doctor or something?" Yang asked looking around with mounting concern which only intensified when the loudspeaker above them crackled to life.

**_"RAPID RESPONSE TEAM TO HIGH SECURITY ROOM #1 REPEAT, RAPID RESPONSE TEAM TO HIGH SECURITY ROOM #1 POSSIBLE CARDIAC ALERT IN PROGRESS"_**

"Great! Just great, now we're going to be stuck in some medical emergency and we don't even-" Weiss was about to continue her tirade when a loud roar of pain reached their ears. The scream itself was muffled, but its sheer agony pierced through walls and cut to the bone, sending a collective shudder through them all.

"That was Jaune!" Ruby yelled. "Jaune's in trouble!" She shouted, bursting into a cloud of rose petals as she rocketed up the corridor towards a door marked with more warning labels than any other in the hallway.

"Ruby wait! Stop!" Yang called after her. The rest of the hallway was reacting in slow motion to the sudden events. Nurses were now fully turning to face the source of the outburst, and some of the more perceptive staff had already taken their first step in Ruby's direction. None could match the speed of Ruby Rose, however, and before anyone was even within arms grasp of her crimson blur, she had reached Jaune's door and thrown it open.

It was as if she pulled open the lid to a nightmare. Worse than that, worse than anything she might of imagined, more akin to something out one of those horror flicks Yang enjoyed tricking her into seeing.

Trying to process the scene before her the first thing Ruby registered was the smell. A foul mix of vomit, blood, and body odor slammed into her making her dry heave almost immediately. Stumbling forward, her foot slipped on some object on the floor. Looking down, her eyes went wide as she saw a thin metal rod sitting in a spatter of blood sticking out from beneath her boot. Looking further along the floor her gaze traced a bloody path, misshapen rods and other bits of metal scattered in a splash of blood, a two-dimensional blast of shrapnel bursting in the direction of the doorway. Following the trail of blood and metal in the dim light of the room, her eyes were drawn to a strange shimmer at the other end.

A pale glistening form perched on the bed, bloody flesh wreathed in bent metal. It crouched like some grotesque blood-drenched larva newly hatched, and she struggled vainly to comprehend what she beheld. She tried to speak, tried to understand what it was she was seeing, her mind swirling with question after unanswered question. This was supposed to be Jaune's room, wasn't it? Where was he, what was going on? What had made that horrible noise? She took another step forward, trying to get a better look. Another step, the stench somehow growing even worse, another step-

A blast of air whipped by her head, followed by a loud thud as something embedded itself in the wall next to her. Turning to look she saw yet another metallic rod, dripping with fresh blood sticking out of the wall near the door.

"Aghhh…think…I think that's the last…uhh?"

Thankful for her lightning reflexes she turned back, even more on guard to seek the source of the quiet, stammering voice.

The... thing shifted, uncoiling from out of the center of the halo of twisted steel. A shock of messy blond hair caught her attention first, followed by two intensely cerulean eyes that pierced into her mind as easily as would one of her 50 caliber sniper rounds.

She couldn't move.

She couldn't speak.

The moment stretched out, her whole world being swallowed by those two intense blue orbs that regarded her presence. The thing's eyes cocked to the side, then squinted as they appraised her presence. She vaguely registered the sound of approaching footsteps as the eyes stared at her for what felt like ages before the thing spoke again. The previous fear and horror suddenly broke, the familiar voice filling up her mind with an overbearing yet altogether gentle power, like being submerged in a warm bath.

"Ruby...is that you?"

**Until next time folks!**


End file.
